Molecular dynamics investigation into the structural features and transport properties of C60 in liquid argon

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed to investigate the structural features and transport properties of C60 in liquid argon. The results reveal that an organized structure shell of liquid argon is formed close to the surface of a C60 fullerene molecule, thereby changing the solid/liquid interfacial structure. Furthermore, the simulation indicates that the C60-liquid argon fluid becomes structurally more stable as the C60 molecule volume fraction and the temperature increase. The viscosity of the fluid increases significantly as the C60 molecule loading is increased, particularly at a lower temperature. The thermal conductivity enhancement of the fluid in the present simulations is anomalously an order of magnitude higher than the theoretical predictions from either the Maxwell or the Lu and Liu models, and is found to vary approximately linearly with the C60 molecule volume fraction. The increased thermal conductivity is attributed to the nature of heat conduction in C60 molecule suspensions and an organized structure at the solid/liquid interface.