Related papers: Understanding tetrahedral liquids through patchy c…
We introduce a model system of anisotropic colloidal `rocks'. Due to their shape, the bonding introduced via non-absorbing polymers is profoundly different from spherical particles: bonds between rocks are rigid against rotation, leading to…
We study a two-dimensional binary mixture of patchy colloids in sedimentation-diffusion-equilibrium using Monte Carlo simulation and Wertheim's theory. By tuning the buoyant masses of the colloids we can control the gravity-induced sequence…
The relevance of anisotropic interactions in colloidal systems has recently emerged in the context of the rational design of new soft materials. Patchy colloids of different shapes, patterns and functionalities are considered the new…
The rapid progress in precisely designing the surface decoration of patchy colloidal particles offers a new, yet unexperienced freedom to create building entities for larger, more complex structures in soft matter systems. However, it is…
We perform molecular dynamics simulations for a silica glass former model proposed by Coslovich and Pastore (CP) over a wide range of densities. The density variation can be mapped onto the change of the potential depth between Si and O…
We carry out Monte Carlo simulations of a colloidal fluid membrane composed of chiral rod-like viruses. The membrane is modeled by a triangular mesh of beads connected by bonds in which the bonds and beads are free to move at each Monte…
We introduce a mesoscopic model of dynamic Tetra-PEG hydrogel networks based on a hybrid Dissipative Particle Dynamics/Monte Carlo (DPD/MC) approach. Polymer chains are described by Finite Extensible Nonlinear Elastic (FENE) potential,…
We introduce a new numerical technique, namely triangular tessellation, to calculate the free energy associated with the adsorption of a colloidal particle at a flat interface. The theory and numerical scheme presented here are sufficiently…
We study the structural and thermodynamic properties of patchy particle liquids, with a special focus on the role of "color", i.e. specific interactions between individual patches. A possible experimental realization of such "chromatic"…
We develop a new theory for associating fluids with multiple association sites. The theory accounts for small bond angle effects such as steric hindrance, ring formation and double bonding. The theory is validated against monte carlo…
Patchy colloids are promising candidates for building blocks in directed self-assembly. To be successful the surface patterns need to both be simple enough to be synthesized, while feature-rich enough to cause the colloids to self-assemble…
A Monte Carlo method is presented for the simulation of vitreous silica. Well-relaxed networks of vitreous silica are generated containing up to 300,000 atoms. The resulting networks, quenched under the BKS potential, display smaller…
Inverse patchy colloids are nano- to micro-scale particles with a surface divided into differently charged regions. This class of colloids combines directional, selective bonding with a relatively simple particle design: owing to the…
Motivated by recent experimental findings in chemical synthesis of colloidal particles, we draw an analogy between self-assembly processes occurring in biological systems (e.g. protein folding) and a new exciting possibility in the field of…
Disordered systems like liquids, gels, glasses, or granular materials are not only ubiquitous in daily life and in industrial applications but they are also crucial for the mechanical stability of cells or the transport of chemical and…
We critically discuss the application of the Wertheim's theory to classes of complex associating fluids that can be today engineered in the laboratory as patchy colloids and to the prediction of their peculiar gas-liquid phase diagrams. Our…
Entropy alone can self-assemble hard particles into colloidal crystals of remarkable complexity whose structures are the same as atomic and molecular crystals, but with larger lattice spacings. Although particle-based molecular simulation…
We present a method to generate realistic, three-dimensional networks of crosslinked semiflexible polymers. The free energy of these networks is obtained from the force-extension characteristics of the individual polymers and their…
Attractive colloidal gels exhibit solid-like behavior at vanishingly small fractions of solids, owing to ramified space-spanning networks that form due to particle-particle interactions. These networks give the gel its rigidity, and as the…
We calculate the network fluid regime and phase diagrams of binary mixtures of patchy colloids, using Wertheim's first order perturbation theory and a generalization of Flory-Stockmayer's theory of polymerization. The colloids are modelled…