Issue 4, 2012

Energy landscapes of colloidal clusters: thermodynamics and rearrangement mechanisms

Abstract

New experiments involving direct observation of colloidal clusters by optical microscopy promise to deliver a wealth of new information about such systems. Calculations suggest that some of the observable properties may be predicted using a simple pairwise potential to represent the interparticle forces, but in a range of parameter space that is distinctly different from previous representations of atomic clusters. The present contribution provides some benchmark calculations and predictions of structure, thermodynamics and rearrangement mechanisms for colloidal clusters containing up to 80 particles. The results suggest that distinct features characteristic of short-ranged interactions should be observable in terms of the structure, thermodynamics and dynamical properties. Analysis of a kinetic transition network for the 19-particle cluster reveals super-Arrhenius behaviour in the dynamics, analogous to a ‘fragile’ glass-former.

Graphical abstract: Energy landscapes of colloidal clusters: thermodynamics and rearrangement mechanisms

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
24 Jun 2011
Accepted
25 Aug 2011
First published
06 Oct 2011

Nanoscale, 2012,4, 1085-1100

Energy landscapes of colloidal clusters: thermodynamics and rearrangement mechanisms

F. Calvo, J. P. K. Doye and D. J. Wales, Nanoscale, 2012, 4, 1085 DOI: 10.1039/C1NR10679A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements