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arXiv · 0910.4924

Separation and fractionation of order and disorder in highly polydisperse systems

L. A. Fernandez·V. Martin-Mayor·B. Seoane·P. Verrocchio
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Abstract

Microcanonical Monte Carlo simulations of a polydisperse soft-spheres model for liquids and colloids have been performed for very large polydispersity, in the region where a phase-separation is known to occur when the system (or part of it) solidifies. By studying samples of different sizes, from N=256 to N=864, we focus on the nature of the two distinct coexisting phases. Measurements of crystalline order in particles of different size reveal that the solid phase segregates between a crystalline solid with cubic symmetry and a disordered phase. This phenomenon is termed fractionation.

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L. A. Fernandez, V. Martin-Mayor, B. Seoane, P. Verrocchio. 2009-10-26. Separation and fractionation of order and disorder in highly polydisperse systems. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreve.82.021501

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