Random sequential adsorption of spheres on a cylinder
Soft Condensed Matter
2020-01-08 v1 Biomolecules
Abstract
Inspired by observations of beads packed on a thin string in such systems as sea-grapes and dental plaque, we study the random sequential adsorption of spheres on a cylinder. We determine the asymptotic fractional coverage of the cylinder as a function of the sole parameter in the problem, the ratio of the sphere radius to the cylinder radius (for a very long cylinder) using a combination of analysis and numerical simulations. Examining the asymptotic structures, we find weak chiral ordering on sufficiently small spatial scales. Experiments involving colloidal microspheres that can attach irreversibly to a silica wire via electrostatic forces or DNA hybridization allow us to verify our predictions for the asymptotic coverage.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1908.05350,
title = {Random sequential adsorption of spheres on a cylinder},
author = {Edvin Memet and Nabila Tanjeem and Charlie Greboval and Vinothan N. Manoharan and L. Mahadevan},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1908.05350},
year = {2020}
}