Simulation of Particle Adsorption onto a Polymer-Coated Surface Using the Dissipative Particle Dynamics Method

Dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) was originated as a tool for performing fluid dynamics simulations of complex fluids and among other things has been used to simulate dilute polymer solutions. This report describes a new application of the technique-modeling the adsorption of colloidal particles onto a polymer-coated surface. This type of simulation would be beyond the scope of molecular dynamics but is effectively modeled with DPD. The preliminary results of these investigations, presented here, show good agreement with what might be predicted theoretically. They show that the colloidal particles would be less likely to adsorb onto the surface as the size of the polymer relative to the particle is increased, or similarly as the density of the polymers is increased. They also show that particle adsorption is reduced when the polymer is well solvated. They demonstrate how particles that have agglomerated with each other find it more difficult to penetrate a polymer barrier because of their greater size. Further investigation is required to understand the effects of temperature. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.