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Published on: May 20, 2014
Simulation and theory of a model for tetrahedral colloidal particles
G Munaó1, D Costa, F Sciortino
1Dipartimento di Fisica and CNISM, Università degli Studi di Messina Viale F. Stagno d'Alcontres 31, 98166 Messina, Italy. gmunao@gmail.com
Abstract:
We study the thermodynamic and structural properties of a five-site tetrahedral molecular model by means of different Monte Carlo simulation techniques, and the reference interaction site model (RISM) theory of molecular fluids. Simulations and theory signal the onset, at sufficiently low temperatures, of two different tetrahedral molecular arrangements, with a more open topology progressively giving place to a fully bonded one, as the temperature decreases. The RISM theory reproduces the splitting of the static structure factor at low temperatures, a feature intimately related to the onset of the tetrahedral ordering. Less accurate predictions are obtained for the liquid-vapor coexistence and the short-range correlations.
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