Patchy particles

Patchy particles are models designed to keep pace with the rapid advances in the field of colloids. It is now possible to synthesise or fabricate tiny particles that have a variety of shapes, composition etc. In order to simulate these structures, there is a corresponding growth in the number of idealised models being developed and studied. With a view to classifying these "patchy" models the idea of "anisotropy dimensions" has been put forward.

Taxonomy: anisotropy dimensions

Anisotropy dimensions is a classification scheme for patchy particles . The eight attributes are as follows:

Surface coverage (A)

Aspect ratio (B)

Faceting (C)

Pattern quantisation (D)

Branching (E)

Chemical ordering (F)

Shape gradient (G)

Roughness (H)

Models

• Bol model of water
• Dahl and Andersen model of water
• Kern and Frenkel patchy model
• Modulated patchy Lennard-Jones model
• Smith and Nezbeda associated fluid model
• Laponite

See also

• Colloids
• Emulsions
• Janus particles
• Phase diagram of anisotropic particles with octahedral symmetry
• Phase diagram of anisotropic particles with tetrahedral symmetry
• Wertheim's first order thermodynamic perturbation theory (TPT1)

References

Related reading

• Amar B. Pawar and Ilona Kretzschmar "Fabrication, Assembly, and Application of Patchy Particles", Macromolecular Rapid Communications 31 pp. 150-168 (2010)
• Willem K. Kegel and Henk N. W. Lekkerkerker "Colloidal gels: Clay goes patchy", Nature Materials 10 pp. 5-6 (2011)