Molecular Dynamics Models of Shaped Particles Using Filling Solutions

AbstractAlgorithms such as molecular dynamics are useful computational methods for generating trajectories for studying kinetics and nonequilibrium, as well as equilibrium, problems involving ensembles of nano- and colloidal particles. Highly coarse-grained representations of complex particles can be created by rigidly connecting beads into a compos- ite particle. Here we show that by permitting the beads to vary in radii and to overlap, particles can be modeled with more complicated shapes, approaching perfect polygons and polyhedra in two and three dimensions, respectively. The positions and radii of the beads correspond to afilling solution of the very short-range repulsive shape of the modeled nanoparticle