Related papers: C60: the first one-component gel?
By means of molecular dynamics, we study a model system for colloidal suspensions where the interaction is based on a competition between attraction and repulsion. At low temperatures the relaxation time $\tau$ first increases as a power…
Wet granular materials are characterized by a defined bond energy in their particle interaction such that breaking a bond implies an irreversible loss of a fixed amount of energy. Associated with the bond energy is a nonequilibrium…
If quenched fast enough, a liquid is able to avoid crystallization and will remain in a metastable supercooled state down to the glass transition, with an important increase in viscosity upon further cooling. There are important differences…
Dynamical heterogeneities in a colloidal fluid close to gelation are studied by means of computer simulations. A clear distinction between some fast particles and the rest, slow ones, is observed, yielding a picture of the gel composed by…
We introduce and numerically study a model designed to mimic the bulk behavior of a system composed of single-stranded DNA dendrimers. Complementarity of the base sequences of different strands results in the formation of strong cooperative…
Microgels are soft colloidal particles that, when dispersed in a solvent, swell and deswell in response to changes in environmental conditions, such as temperature, concentration, and $p$H. Using Monte Carlo simulation, we model bulk…
Investigations of clathrate structures have gained a new impetus with the recent discovery of room-temperature superconductivity in metal hydrides. Here we report the finding, through density functional theory calculations, of a clathrate…
Alkali halides $MX$, have been viewed as typical ionic compounds, characterized by 1:1 ratio necessary for charge balance between M$^+$ and X$^-$. It was proposed that group I elements like Cs can be oxidized further under high pressure.…
We report extensive numerical simulations of a simple model for charged colloidal particles in suspension with small non-adsorbing polymers. The chosen effective one-component interaction potential is composed of a short-range attractive…
A liquid can form under cooling a glassy state either as a result of a continuous slowing down or by a first order polyamorphous phase transition. The second scenario has so far always been observed below the melting point where it…
We numerically investigate the competition between phase separation and dynamical arrest in a colloidal system interacting via a short ranged attractive potential. Equilibrium fluid configurations are quenched at two different temperatures…
Effective pair interactions with a soft-repulsive component are a well-known feature of polymer solutions and colloidal suspensions, but they also provide a key to interpret the high-pressure behaviour of simple elements. We have computed…
Cytoskeletal gels are engineered prototypes that mimic the contractile behavior of a cell in-vitro. They are composed of an active polymer matrix and a liquid solvent. Their contraction kinetics is governed by two dynamic phenomena:…
We study a recently introduced model of one-component glass-forming liquids whose constituents interact with anisotropic potential. This system is interesting per-se and as a model of liquids like glycerol (interacting via hydrogen bonds)…
Colloid-polymer mixtures can undergo spinodal decomposition into colloid-rich and colloid-poor regions. Gelation results when interconnected colloid-rich regions solidify. We show that this occurs when these regions undergo a glass…
Fluid phase behavior of charge-stabilized colloidal suspensions is explored by applying a new variant of the Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo simulation method to a coarse-grained one-component model with implicit microions and solvent. The…
The fragility of a glassforming liquid characterizes how rapidly its relaxation dynamics slow down with cooling. The viscosity of strong liquids follows an Arrhenius law with a temperature-independent barrier height to rearrangements…
We study the phase ordering colloids suspended in a thermotropic nematic liquid crystal below the clearing point Tni and the resulting aggregated structure. Small (150nm) PMMA particles are dispersed in a classical liquid crystal matrix,…
Determining the onset of rigidity in gels is a fundamental challenge with significant practical implications across different applications. Limited-valence, or patchy-particle systems have proven to be a valuable model to study the…
Despite decades of intense study, the mechanisms underlying the extraordinary dynamics of supercooled liquids as they approach the glass transition remain, at best, mis-characterized, and at worst, misunderstood. A long standing endeavor is…