Bozorgui Behnaz, Frenkel Daan
FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics, Kruislaan 407, 1098 SJ Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Phys Rev Lett. 2008 Jul 25;101(4):045701. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.045701.
We report grand-canonical Monte Carlo simulations of an equimolar mixture of hard colloids coated with long polymers that have a complementary functionalization. Such systems have the potential to function as self-healing materials. Under conditions where the complementary polymer ends are strongly associated, we observe a first-order vapor-liquid transition from a dilute gas of colloidal dimers to a dense, liquid-like phase. This transition is driven exclusively by the increase in entropy associated with bond disorder-an effect that was predicted theoretically by Zilman et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 015901 (2003)10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.015901]. Our simulations rationalize experimental observations by Schmatko et al. [Soft Matter 03 (2007) 703.].
我们报告了对涂覆有具有互补功能化的长聚合物的硬胶体等摩尔混合物进行的巨正则蒙特卡罗模拟。此类系统有潜力作为自愈材料发挥作用。在互补聚合物末端强烈缔合的条件下，我们观察到从胶体二聚体的稀薄气体到致密的类液相的一级气-液转变。这种转变完全由与键无序相关的熵增加驱动——这一效应由齐尔曼等人在理论上进行了预测[《物理评论快报》91, 015901 (2003)10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.015901]。我们的模拟解释了施马特科等人的实验观察结果[《软物质》03 (2007) 703]。
