Self-assembly of freely-rotating polydisperse cuboids: unveiling the boundaries of the biaxial nematic phase

Abstract

Polydisperse colloidal cuboids display a very rich self-assembling behaviour, which includes stable biaxial nematic liquid crystal phases.

Rejection-free cluster Wang-Landau algorithm for hard-core lattice gases

“…Data for the 1-NN model in three dimensions for different system sizes collapse onto one curve for (a) t 1,3d , (b) q 1,3d , and (c) χ 1,3d when scaled as in Eq. ( 15) with exponents ν = 0.624 (5), β/ν = 0.478 (9), γ /ν = 2.050 (13), and μ c,1,3d = 0.0558 (6). computed both in the grand canonical ensemble (P) as well as the canonical ensemble ( P).…”

“…In the case of the 3-NN model in two dimensions and the 2-NN model in three dimensions, we obtain improved estimates for critical chemical potential, coexistence densities, and critical pressure. The improved estimates of critical chemical potential are 3.6766 (5) for the 3-NN model in two dimensions and 0.5326(4) for the 2-NN model in three dimensions. The coexistence densities range from 0.8055(3) to 0.9570(3) for the 3-NN model in two dimensions and 0.4136(1) to 0.5197(2) for the 2-NN model in three dimensions.…”

“…Any phase transition induced by changing density is driven by a gain in entropy and thus HCLGs are the minimal models for studying entropy-driven transitions. HCLGs are also closely related to the freezing transition [2,3], self assembly [4,5], adsorption on surfaces [6,7], directed and undirected lattice animals [8][9][10], and the Yang-Lee edge singularity [11]. Systems of many differently shaped particles have been studied.…”

Computational investigation of the phase behavior of colloidal squares with offset magnetic dipoles

“…[29][30][31][32] Molecular dynamics simulations are often used to model the motion of colloidal suspensions by approximating forces between particles with pairwise interparticle potential functions. [33][34][35] Computational studies of circular colloids with offset internal dipoles have predicted a range of phase behavior depending on the location and orientation of the dipole embedded in the particles. 36 In previous studies, computer simulations have also been used to study systems of colloidal cubes with internal dipoles.…”

Fast Overlap Detection between Hard-Core Colloidal Cuboids and Spheres. The OCSI Algorithm

“…Consequently, efficient and robust algorithms able to detect collisions and intersections between objects become essential to extract structural, thermodynamic and dynamic properties of such systems from a molecular simulation. In colloid science, cuboids are especially intriguing building blocks that can form a rich variety of liquid crystal phases [40][41][42][43][44]. Incorporating guest spherical particles in these phases is relevant to understand phenomena of diffusion in crowded environments that display a significant degree of ordering.…”