Monte Carlo simulation of Hamaker nanospheres coated with dipolar particles

Abstract

Parallel tempering Monte Carlo simulation is carried out in systems of N attractive Hamaker spheres dressed with n dipolar particles, able to move on the surface of the spheres. Different cluster configurations emerge for given values of the control parameters. Energy per sphere, pair distribution functions of spheres and dipoles as function of temperature, density, external electric field, and/or the angular orientation of dipoles are used to analyse the state of aggregation of the system. As a consequence of the non-central interaction, the model predicts complex structures like self-assembly of spheres by a double crown of dipoles. This interesting result could be of help in understanding some recent experiments in colloidal science and biology.

Keywords:

• self-assembly
• nanospheres
• complex system
• Monte Carlo

Acknowledgements

The nanosphere graphics were represented using the VMD molecular viewer 39. This work was partially supported by Universidad Nacional de La Plata and CICPBA.