Dynamic simulations of many-body electrostatic self-assembly.
Eric B Lindgren, Benjamin Stamm, Yvon Maday, Elena Besley, A J Stace
Author Information
Eric B Lindgren: Department of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, School of Chemistry, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.
Benjamin Stamm: Centre for Computational Engineering, Mathematics Department, RWTH Aachen University, Schinkelstrasse 2, 52062 Aachen, Germany.
Yvon Maday: Laboratoire Jacques-Louis Lions, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR 7598, 75005 Paris, France.
Elena Besley: Department of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, School of Chemistry, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.
A J Stace: Department of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, School of Chemistry, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK anthony.stace@nottingham.ac.uk. ORCID
Two experimental studies relating to electrostatic self-assembly have been the subject of dynamic computer simulations, where the consequences of changing the charge and the dielectric constant of the materials concerned have been explored. One series of calculations relates to experiments on the assembly of polymer particles that have been subjected to tribocharging and the simulations successfully reproduce many of the observed patterns of behaviour. A second study explores events observed following collisions between single particles and small clusters composed of charged particles derived from a metal oxide composite. As before, observations recorded during the course of the experiments are reproduced by the calculations. One study in particular reveals how particle polarizability can influence the assembly process.This article is part of the theme issue 'Modern theoretical chemistry'.
