Low-Temperature Crystal Structures of the Hard Core Square Shoulder Model.

ABSTRACT: In many cases, the stability of complex structures in colloidal systems is enhanced by a competition between different length scales. Inspired by recent experiments on nanoparticles coated with polymers, we use Monte Carlo simulations to explore the types of crystal structures that can form in a simple hard-core square shoulder model that explicitly incorporates two favored distances between the particles. To this end, we combine Monte Carlo-based crystal structure finding algorithms with free energies obtained using a mean-field cell theory approach, and draw phase diagrams for two different values of the square shoulder width as a function of the density and temperature. Moreover, we map out the zero-temperature phase diagram for a broad range of shoulder widths. Our results show the sta

SUBMITTER: Gabrielse A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5706227 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature