arXiv subjects

Martin Horsch

Publications and source records attributed to Martin Horsch.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2016

Influence of bidisperse self-assembled monolayer structure on the slip boundary condition of thin polymer films

Alkylsilane self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) are often used as model substrates for their ease of preparation and hydrophobic properties. We have observed that these atomically smooth monolayers also provide a slip boundary condition for dewetting films composed of unentangled polymers. This slip length, an indirect measure of the friction between a given liquid and different solids, is switchable and can be increased [Fetzer et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 2005; Bäumchen et al. J. Phys.: Cond. Matt. 2012] if the alkyl chain length is changed from 18 to 12 backbone carbons, for example. Typically, this change in boundary condition is affected in a quantized way, using one or the other alkyl chain length, thus obtaining one or the other slip length. Here, we present results in which this SAM structure is changed in a continuous way. We prepare SAMs containing bidisperse mixed SAMs of alkyl silanes, with the composition as a control parameter. We find that all the mixed SAMs we investigated show an enhanced slip boundary condition as compared to the single-component SAMs. The slip boundary condition is accessed using optical and atomic force microscopy, and we describe these observations in the context of X-ray reflectivity measurements. The slip length, varying over nearly two orders of magnitude, of identical polymer melts on chemically similar SAMs is found to correlate with the density of exposed alkyl chains. Our results demonstrate the importance of a well characterized solid/liquid pair, down to the angstrom level, when discussing friction between a liquid and a solid.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2016

Simultaneous description of bulk and interfacial properties of fluids by the Mie potential

The vapor-liquid equilibrium (VLE) of the Mie potential, where the dispersive exponent is constant (m = 6) while the repulsive exponent n is varied between 9 and 48, is systematically investigated by molecular simulation. For systems with planar vapor-liquid interfaces, long-range correction expressions are derived, so that interfacial and bulk properties can be computed accurately. The present simulation results are found to be consistent with the available body of literature on the Mie fluid which is substantially extended. On the basis of correlations for the considered thermodynamic properties, a multicriteria optimization becomes viable. Thereby, users can adjust the three parameters of the Mie potential to the properties of real fluids, weighting different thermodynamic properties according to their importance for a particular application scenario. In the present work, this is demonstrated for carbon dioxide for which different competing objective functions are studied which describe the accuracy of the model for representing the saturated liquid density, the vapor pressure and the surface tension. It is shown that models can be found which describe simultaneously the saturated liquid density and vapor pressure with good accuracy, and it is discussed to what extent this accuracy can be upheld as the model accuracy for the surface tension is further improved.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2016

Molecular simulation of the surface tension of real fluids

Molecular models of real fluids are validated by comparing the vapor-liquid surface tension from molecular dynamics (MD) simulation to correlations of experimental data. The considered molecular models consist of up to 28 interaction sites, including Lennard-Jones sites, point charges, dipoles and quadrupoles. They represent 38 real fluids, such as ethylene oxide, sulfur dioxide, phosgene, benzene, ammonia, formaldehyde, methanol and water, and were adjusted to reproduce the saturated liquid density, vapor pressure and enthalpy of vaporization. The models were not adjusted to interfacial properties, however, so that the present MD simulations are a test of model predictions. It is found that all of the considered models overestimate the surface tension. In most cases, however, the relative deviation between the simulation results and correlations to experimental data is smaller than 20 %. This observation corroborates the outcome of our previous studies on the surface tension of 2CLJQ and 2CLJD fluids where an overestimation of the order of 10 to 20 % was found.

physics.comp-ph↗

arXiv2015

Contact angle of sessile drops in Lennard-Jones systems

Molecular dynamics simulation is used for studying the contact angle of nanoscale sessile drops on a planar solid wall in a system interacting via the truncated and shifted Lennard-Jones potential. The entire range between total wetting and dewetting is investigated by varying the solid--fluid dispersive interaction energy. The temperature is varied between the triple point and the critical temperature. A correlation is obtained for the contact angle in dependence of the temperature and the dispersive interaction energy. Size effects are studied by varying the number of fluid particles at otherwise constant conditions, using up to 150 000 particles. For particle numbers below 10 000, a decrease of the contact angle is found. This is attributed to a dependence of the solid-liquid surface tension on the droplet size. A convergence to a constant contact angle is observed for larger system sizes. The influence of the wall model is studied by varying the density of the wall. The effective solid-fluid dispersive interaction energy at a contact angle of 90 degrees is found to be independent of temperature and to decrease linearly with the solid density. A correlation is developed which describes the contact angle as a function of the dispersive interaction, the temperature and the solid density. The density profile of the sessile drop and the surrounding vapor phase is described by a correlation combining a sigmoidal function and an oscillation term.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

ms2: A molecular simulation tool for thermodynamic properties, new version release

A new version release (2.0) of the molecular simulation tool ms2 [S. Deublein et al., Comput. Phys. Commun. 182 (2011) 2350] is presented. Version 2.0 of ms2 features a hybrid parallelization based on MPI and OpenMP for molecular dynamics simulation to achieve higher scalability. Furthermore, the formalism by Lustig [R. Lustig, Mol. Phys. 110 (2012) 3041] is implemented, allowing for a systematic sampling of Massieu potential derivatives in a single simulation run. Moreover, the Green-Kubo formalism is extended for the sampling of the electric conductivity and the residence time. To remove the restriction of the preceding version to electro-neutral molecules, Ewald summation is implemented to consider ionic long range interactions. Finally, the sampling of the radial distribution function is added.

cs.CE↗

arXiv2015

Long range correction for multi-site Lennard-Jones models and planar interfaces

A slab based long range correction approach for multi-site Lennard-Jones models is presented for systems with a planar film geometry that is based on the work by Janecek, J. Phys. Chem. B 110: 6264 (2006). It is efficient because it relies on a center-of-mass cutoff scheme and scales in terms of numerics almost perfectly with the molecule number. For validation, a series of simulations with the two-center Lennard-Jones model fluid, carbon dioxide and cyclohexane is carried out. The results of the present approach, a site-based long range correction and simulations without any long range correction are compared with respect to the saturated liquid density and the surface tension. The present simulation results exhibit only a weak dependence on the cutoff radius, indicating a high accuracy of the implemented long range correction.

physics.comp-ph↗

arXiv2014

Molecular modelling and simulation of the surface tension of real quadrupolar fluids

Molecular modelling and simulation of the surface tension of fluids with force fields is discussed. 29 real fluids are studied, including nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, ethane, ethylene, acetylene, propyne, propylene, propadiene, carbon disulfide, sulfur hexafluoride, and many refrigerants. The fluids are represented by two-centre Lennard-Jones plus point quadrupole models from the literature. These models were adjusted only to experimental data of the vapour pressure and saturated liquid density so that the results for the surface tension are predictions. The deviations between the predictions and experimental data for the surface tension are of the order of 20 percent. The surface tension is usually overestimated by the models. For further improvements, data on the surface tension can be included in the model development. A suitable strategy for this is multi-criteria optimization based on Pareto sets. This is demonstrated using the model for carbon dioxide as an example.

physics.comp-ph↗

arXiv2014

ls1 mardyn: The massively parallel molecular dynamics code for large systems

The molecular dynamics simulation code ls1 mardyn is presented. It is a highly scalable code, optimized for massively parallel execution on supercomputing architectures, and currently holds the world record for the largest molecular simulation with over four trillion particles. It enables the application of pair potentials to length and time scales which were previously out of scope for molecular dynamics simulation. With an efficient dynamic load balancing scheme, it delivers high scalability even for challenging heterogeneous configurations. Presently, multi-center rigid potential models based on Lennard-Jones sites, point charges and higher-order polarities are supported. Due to its modular design, ls1 mardyn can be extended to new physical models, methods, and algorithms, allowing future users to tailor it to suit their respective needs. Possible applications include scenarios with complex geometries, e.g. for fluids at interfaces, as well as non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulation of heat and mass transfer.

cs.CE↗

arXiv2013

Molecular simulation of nano-dispersed fluid phases

Fluid phase equilibria involving nano-dispersed phases, where at least one of the coexisting phases is confined to a small volume, are investigated by molecular dynamics simulation. Complementing previous studies on nanoscopic droplets, simulation volumes containing a nanoscopic gas bubble surrounded by a subsaturated liquid phase under tension, i.e. at negative pressure, are conducted in the canonical ensemble. The boundary conditions are chosen such that the phase equilibrium at the curved interface is thermodynamically stable. Two distinct size-dependent effects are found: Curvature induces a subsaturation of the system, leading to a smaller liquid density. For the gas in the centre of the bubble, the small diameter has an additional obverse effect, increasing its density. The curvature dependence of the surface tension is discussed by evaluating average radial density profiles to obtain the excess equimolar radius, which is found to be positive, corresponding to a negative Tolman length.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

Computational molecular engineering as an emerging technology in process engineering

The present level of development of molecular force field methods is assessed from the point of view of simulation-based engineering, outlining the immediate perspective for further development and highlighting the newly emerging discipline of Computational Molecular Engineering (CME) which makes basic research in soft matter physics fruitful for industrial applications. Within the coming decade, major breakthroughs can be reached if a research focus is placed on processes at interfaces, combining aspects where an increase in the accessible length and time scales due to massively parallel high-performance computing will lead to particularly significant improvements.

cs.DC↗

arXiv2013

Molecular modelling and simulation of electrolyte solutions, biomolecules, and wetting of component surfaces

Massively-parallel molecular dynamics simulation is applied to systems containing electrolytes, vapour-liquid interfaces, and biomolecules in contact with water-oil interfaces. Novel molecular models of alkali halide salts are presented and employed for the simulation of electrolytes in aqueous solution. The enzymatically catalysed hydroxylation of oleic acid is investigated by molecular dynamics simulation taking the internal degrees of freedom of the macromolecules into account. Thereby, Ewald summation methods are used to compute the long range electrostatic interactions. In systems with a phase boundary, the dispersive interaction, which is modelled by the Lennard-Jones potential here, has a more significant long range contribution than in homogeneous systems. This effect is accounted for by implementing the Janecek cutoff correction scheme. On this basis, the HPC infrastructure at the Steinbuch Centre for Computing was accessed and efficiently used, yielding new insights on the molecular systems under consideration.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2013

The influence of the liquid slab thickness on the planar vapor-liquid interfacial tension

One of the long standing challenges in molecular simulation is the description of interfaces. On the molecular length scale, finite size effects significantly influence the properties of the interface such as its interfacial tension, which can be reliably investigated by molecular dynamics simulation of planar vapor-liquid interfaces. For the Lennard-Jones fluid, finite size effects are examined here by varying the thickness of the liquid slab. It is found that the surface tension and density in the center of the liquid region decreases significantly for thin slabs. The influence of the slab thickness on both the liquid density and the surface tension is found to scale with 1/S^3 in terms of the slab thickness S, and a linear correlation between both effects is obtained. The results corroborate the analysis of Malijevský and Jackson, J. Phys.: Cond. Mat. 24: 464121 (2012), who recently detected an analogous effect for the surface tension of liquid nanodroplets.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2011

The excess equimolar radius of liquid drops

The curvature dependence of the surface tension is related to the excess equimolar radius of liquid drops, i.e., the deviation of the equimolar radius from that defined with the macroscopic capillarity approximation. Based on the Tolman [J. Chem. Phys. 17, 333 (1949)] approach and its interpretation by Nijmeijer et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 96, 565 (1991)], the surface tension of spherical interfaces is analysed in terms of the pressure difference due to curvature. In the present study, the excess equimolar radius, which can be obtained directly from the density profile, is used instead of the Tolman length. Liquid drops of the truncated-shifted Lennard-Jones fluid are investigated by molecular dynamics simulation in the canonical ensemble, with equimolar radii ranging from 4 to 33 times the Lennard-Jones size parameter sigma. In these simulations, the magnitudes of the excess equimolar radius and the Tolman length are shown to be smaller than sigma/2. Other methodical approaches, from which mutually contradicting findings have been reported, are critically discussed, outlining possible sources of inaccuracy.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2011

Atomistic simulations of electrolyte solutions and hydrogels with explicit solvent models

Two of the most challenging tasks in molecular simulation consist in capturing the properties of systems with long-range interactions (e.g. electrolyte solutions) as well as systems containing large molecules such as hydrogels. For the development and optimization of molecular force fields and models, a large number of simulation runs have to be evaluated to obtain the sensitivity of the target properties with respect to the model parameters. The present work discusses force field development for electrolytes regarding thermodynamic properties of their aqueous solutions. Furthermore, simulations are conducted for the volume transition of hydrogels in the presence of electrolytes. It is shown that the properties of these complex systems can be captured by molecular simulation.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2010

Research on the behavior of liquid fluids atop superhydrophobic gas-bubbled surfaces

Superhydrophobic surfaces play an important role in the development of new product coatings such as cars, but also in mechanical engineering, especially design of turbines and compressors. Thus a vital part of the design of these surfaces is the computational simulation of such with a special interest on variation of shape and size of minor pits grooved into plane surfaces. In the present work, the dependence of the contact angle on the fluid-wall dispersive energy is determined by molecular simulation and static as well as dynamic properties of unpolar fluids in contact with extremely rough surfaces are obtained.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2010

Molecular simulation of fluid dynamics on the nanoscale

Molecular dynamics simulation is applied to Poiseuille flow of liquid methane in planar graphite channels, covering channel diameters between 3 and 135 nm. On this length scale, a transition is found between the regime where local ordering induced by the wall dominates the entire system and larger channel diameters where the influence of boundary slip is still present, but of a more limited extent. The validity of Darcy's law for pressure-driven flow through porous media is not affected by the transition between these regimes.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2010

Development of models and methods for the molecular simulation of large systems and molecules

The most important factor for quantitative results in molecular dynamics simulation are well developed force fields and models. In the present work, the development of new models and the usage of force fields from the literature in large systems are presented. Both tasks lead to time consuming simulations that require massively parallel high performance computing. In the present work, new models for carbon dioxide and cyclohexanolare discussed and a new method for the model development is introduced. Force fields and models for the simulation of PNIPAAm hydrogel in pure water and sodium chloride solution are tested and verified and applied to the simulation of nucleation processes.

physics.comp-ph↗

arXiv2010

Contact angle dependence on the fluid-wall dispersive energy

Vapor-liquid menisci of the truncated and shifted Lennard-Jones fluid between parallel planar walls are investigated by molecular dynamics simulation. Thereby, the characteristic energy of the unlike dispersive interaction between fluid molecules and wall atoms is systematically varied to determine its influence on the contact angle. The temperature is varied as well, covering most of the range between the triple point temperature and the critical temperature of the bulk fluid. The transition between obtuse and acute angles is found to occur at a temperature-independent magnitude of the fluid-wall dispersive interaction energy. On the basis of the present simulation results, fluid-wall interaction potentials can be adjusted to contact angle measurements.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗