Related papers: Phase Transitions in Soft Matter Induced by Select…
When a hydrophilic solute in water is suddenly turned into a hydrophobic species, for instance, by photoionization, a layer of hydrated water molecules forms around the solute on a time scale of a few picoseconds. We study the dynamic…
If a binary liquid mixture, composed of two alternative species with equal amounts, is quenched from a high temperature to a low temperature, below the critical point of demixing, then the mixture will phase separate through a process known…
The aqueous solvent profoundly influences protein folding, yet its effects are relatively poorly understood. In this study, we investigate the impact of solvation on the folding of lattice proteins by using Monte Carlo simulations. The…
We develop a first-principle equation of state of salt-free polyelectrolyte solution in the limit of infinitely long flexible polymer chains in the framework of a field-theoretical formalism beyond the linear Debye-Hueckel theory and…
We use appropriately defined short ranged reference models of liquid water to clarify the different roles local hydrogen bonding, van der Waals attractions, and long ranged electrostatic interactions play in the solvation and association of…
Colloidal crystals with a diamond and pyrochlore structure display wide photonic band gaps at low refractive index contrasts. However, these low-coordinated and open structures are notoriously difficult to self-assemble from colloids…
Interfacial polar molecules feature a strongly anisotropic response to applied electric field, favoring dipole orientations parallel to the interface. In water, in particular, this effect combines with generic orientational preferences…
Non-adiabatic molecular dynamics simulations are used to analyze the role of different solvent degrees of freedom in the non-radiative relaxation of the first excited state of the hydrated electron. The relaxation occurs through a…
A systematically designed study has been conducted to understand and clearly demarcate the degree of contribution by the constituting elements to the surface tension of nanocolloids. The effects of elements such as surfactants, particles…
We examine the solvent-mediated interaction between two neutral colloidal particles due to preferential adsorption in a near-critical binary mixture. We take into account the renormalization effect due to the critical fluctuations using the…
Soft-core attractive potentials can give rise to a phase diagram with three fluid phases at different densities (gas, low-density liquid and high-density liquid), separated by first order phase transition lines ending in critical points.…
We use molecular dynamics simulations to explore the impact of a non-ionic solvent on the structural and capacitive properties of supercapacitors based on an ionic liquid electrolyte and carbon electrodes. The study is focused on two pure…
Over the past few decades the experimental literature has consistently reported observations of attraction between like-charged colloidal particles and macromolecules in solution. Examples include nucleic acids and colloidal particles in…
Water inherently contains trace amounts of various salts, yet the microscopic processes by which salts influence some of its physical properties remain elusive. Notably, the mechanisms that reduce the dielectric constant of water upon salt…
We study the phase behavior of colloidal suspensions the solvents of which are considered to be binary liquid mixtures undergoing phase segregation. We focus on the thermodynamic region close to the critical point of the accompanying…
We study the effect of salts on the thickness of wetting films on melting ice and interactions acting on CO$_2$ bubble near ice-water and vapor-water interfaces. Governing mechanisms are the Lifshitz and the double-layer interactions in the…
The concept of the partial osmotic pressure of ions in an electrolyte solution is critically examined. In principle these can be defined by introducing a solvent-permeable wall and measuring the force per unit area which can certainly be…
We present a study of the solvation properties of model aqueous electrode interfaces. The exposed electrodes we study strongly bind water and have closed packed crystalline surfaces, which template an ordered water adlayer adjacent to the…
Adsorption of small amphiphilic molecules occurs in various biological and technological processes, sometimes desired, the other times unwanted (e.g., contamination). Surface-active molecules preferentially bind to interfaces and affect…
Freezing in charged porous media can induce significant pressure and cause damage to tissues and functional materials. We formulate a thermodynamically consistent theory to model freezing phenomena inside charged heterogeneous porous space.…