Symmetric Lennard-Jones mixtures in two dimensions

Self-assembly of hairy disks in two dimensions - insights from molecular simulations

We report the results of large scale molecular dynamics simulations conducted for sparsely grafted disks in two-dimensional systems. The main goal of this work is to show how the ligand mobility influences the self-assembly of particles decorated with short chains. We also analyze the impact of the chain length on the structure of dense phases. A crossover between the systems controlled by the core-core or by the segment-segment interactions is discussed. We prove that the ligand mobility determines the structure of the system. The particles with fixed tethers are found to order into different structures, an amorphous phase, hexagonal or honeycomb lattices, and a "spaghetti"-like phase containing single strings of cores, depending on the length of attached chains. The disks with mobile monomers assemble into a hexagonal structure, while the particles with longer mobile chains attached to them form a lamellar phase consisting of double strings of cores.

Effects of geometrical and energetic nonadditivity on the phase behavior of two-component symmetric mixtures

Using Monte Carlo simulation methods in the grand-canonical ensemble, we have studied the phase behavior of three-dimensional symmetric binary mixtures of Lennard-Jones particles. We have also elucidated the effects of geometric and energetic nonadditivity on the phase behavior. Phase diagrams for several systems have been evaluated. We have demonstrated that in completely miscible mixtures the geometrical nonadditivity (negative as well as positive) stabilizes a liquid phase leading to a gradual increase of the critical temperature. The mechanism leading to such behavior is different when the system shows negative and positive geometrical nonadditivity. In the case of systems with negative energetic nonadditivity, which may exhibit demixing transition in the liquid phase, their phase behavior is also strongly affected by the geometric non-additivity. The systems with negative geometric nonadditivity have been demonstrated to show reentrant miscibility, while those with positive geometric nonadditivity show enhanced tendency toward mixing at sufficiently high temperatures. We have evaluated phase diagrams for several systems.

Reentrant miscibility in two-dimensional symmetrical mixtures

The Monte Carlo simulation method in the grand canonical ensemble is used to study the phase behavior of two-dimensional symmetrical binary mixtures of Lennard-Jones particles with negative nonadditivity and the weaker interaction between the pairs of unlike than between the pairs of like particles. We have determined the evolution of the phase diagram topology when the parameters describing the interaction between unlike particles vary. It has been found that such systems may exhibit reentrant miscibility in the liquid and the solid phases.

The phase behavior of two-dimensional symmetrical mixtures

Using Monte Carlo simulation methods in the grand canonical and semigrand canonical ensembles, we study the phase behavior of two-dimensional symmetrical binary mixtures of Lennard-Jones particles. We discuss the interplay between the demixing transition in a liquid and the freezing in detail. Phase diagrams for several systems characterized by different parameters describing interactions in the system are presented. It is explicitly demonstrated that different scenarios involving demixing and freezing transitions, described in our earlier paper [A. Patrykiejew and S. Sokołowski, Phys. Rev. E, 81, 012501 (2010)], are possible. In one class of systems, the λ-line representing a continuous demixing transition in a liquid phase starts at the liquid side of either the vapor-liquid or liquid-solid coexistence. The second class involves the systems in which the λ-line begins at the liquid side of the vapor-liquid coexistence, in the lower critical end point, and then terminates at the liquid side of the liquid-solid coexistence, in the upper critical end point. It is also shown that in such systems the solid phase may undergo a demixing transition at the temperature above the upper critical end point.

Interplay between demixing and freezing in two-dimensional symmetrical mixtures

The interplay between demixing and freezing in two-dimensional symmetrical binary mixtures of Lennard-Jones particles is studied using Monte Carlo simulation. It is demonstrated that different scenarios are possible. For example, the line of continuous liquid demixing transition can start at the liquid side of the vapor-liquid coexistence at the lower critical end point and then it can terminate at the liquid side of the liquid-demixed solid coexistence at the upper critical end point. Other situations are also possible. We distinguish four different scenarios depending on the interactions between unlike particles.

Coarse-grained single-particle dynamics in two-dimensional solids and liquids

We consider the dynamics of a single tagged particle in a two-dimensional system governed by Lennard-Jones interactions. Previous work based on the Mori-Zwanzig projection operator formalism has shown that the single-particles dynamics can be described via a generalized Langevin equation (GLE) which is exact within the harmonic approximation, that is, for a low-temperature solid [J. M. Deutch and R. Silbey, Phys. Rev. A 3, 2049 (1971)]. In the present work we explore to what an extent the GLE reproduces the effective dynamics under thermodynamic conditions where the harmonic approximation is no longer justified. To this end we compute characteristic time autocorrelation functions for the tagged particle in molecular dynamics simulations of the full system and compare these functions with those obtained from solving the GLE. At low temperatures we find excellent agreement between both data sets. Deviations emerge at higher temperatures which are, however, surprisingly small even in the high-temperature liquid phase.

Kinetic bottleneck to the self-organization of bidisperse hard disk monolayers formed by random sequential adsorption

We study the self-organization of bidisperse mixtures of hard spheres in two dimensions by simulating random sequential adsorption (RSA) of tethered hard disks that undergo limited Monte Carlo surface diffusion. The tethers place a control on the local entropy of the disks by constraining their movement within a specified distance from their original adsorption positions. By tuning the tether length, from zero (the pure RSA process) to infinity (near-equilibrium conditions), the kinetic pathway to monolayer formation can be varied. Previously [J. J. Gray et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 4430 (2000); Langmuir 17, 2317 (2001)], we generated nonequilibrium phase diagrams for size-monodisperse and size-polydisperse hard disks as a function of surface coverage, size distribution, and tether length to reveal the occurrence of hexagonal close-packed, hexatic, and disordered phases. Bidisperse hard disks potentially offer increasingly diverse phase diagrams, with the possible occurrence of spatially and compositionally organized superlattices. Geometric packing calculations anticipate the formation of close-packed lattices in two dimensions for particle size ratios sigma=R(S)/R(L)=0.53, 0.414, and 0.155. The simulations of these systems presented here, however, reveal that RSA kinetics frustrate superlattice ordering, even for infinite tethers. The calculated jamming limits fall well below the minimum surface coverages necessary for stable ordering, as determined by melting simulations.

Imaging domains in model membranes with atomic force microscopy

Lateral segregation in biomembranes can lead to the formation of biologically functional domains. This paper reviews atomic force microscopy studies on domain formation in model membranes, with special emphasis on transbilayer asymmetry, and on lateral domains induced by lipid-lipid interactions or by peptide-lipid interactions.

Diffusion of hard disks and rodlike molecules on surfaces

We study the submonolayer diffusion of hard disks and rodlike molecules on smooth surfaces through numerical simulations and theoretical arguments. We concentrate on the behavior of the various diffusion coefficients as a function of the two-dimensional (2D) number density rho in the case where there are no explicit surface-particle interactions. For the hard disk case, we find that while the tracer diffusion coefficient D(T)(rho) decreases monotonically up to the freezing transition, the collective diffusion coefficient D(C)(rho) is wholly determined by the inverse compressibility which increases rapidly on approaching freezing. We also study memory effects associated with tracer diffusion, and present theoretical estimates of D(T)(rho) from the mode-mode coupling approximation. In the case of rigid rods with short-range repulsion and no orientational ordering, we find behavior very similar to the case of disks with the same repulsive interaction. Both D(T)(rho) and the angular diffusion coefficient D(R)(rho) decrease with rho. Also in this case D(C)(rho) is determined by inverse compressibility and increases rapidly close to freezing. This is in contrast to the case of flexible chainlike molecules in the lattice-gas limit, where D(C)(rho) first increases and then decreases as a function of the density due to the interplay between compressibility and mobility.