arXiv subjects

Zakariya El-Machachi

Publications and source records attributed to Zakariya El-Machachi.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Atomistic Mechanisms of Hard Carbon Formation from Polyvinylidene Chloride

Hard carbons are a class of disordered materials with widespread application in energy storage. Despite decades of research, their atomistic formation mechanisms have remained elusive, due to the difficulty of both in situ experimental characterization and first-principles simulations. Here, we describe the formation mechanism of hard carbon from the thermal decomposition of polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC), using first-principles-quality simulations with a bespoke machine-learned interatomic potential model. Our results indicate a two-stage process, consisting of (i) radical-mediated dehydrochlorination, which generates reactive unsaturated carbon sites, and (ii) progressive carbon-carbon cross-linking followed by thermally activated rearrangement into an extended sp$^{2}$-bonded network. We provide an atomistic account of non-hexagonal ring motifs emerging during pyrolysis, supporting the empirically-derived theory that these motifs induce the intrinsic curvature that frustrates graphitic ordering in hard carbons.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

A foundation model for atomistic materials chemistry

Atomistic simulations of matter, especially those that leverage first-principles (ab initio) electronic structure theory, provide a microscopic view of the world, underpinning much of our understanding of chemistry and materials science. Over the last decade or so, machine-learned force fields have transformed atomistic modeling by enabling simulations of ab initio quality over unprecedented time and length scales. However, early ML force fields have largely been limited by: (i) the substantial computational and human effort of developing and validating potentials for each particular system of interest; and (ii) a general lack of transferability from one chemical system to the next. Here we show that it is possible to create a general-purpose atomistic ML model, trained on a public dataset of moderate size, that is capable of running stable molecular dynamics for a wide range of molecules and materials. We demonstrate the power of the MACE-MP-0 model - and its qualitative and at times quantitative accuracy - on a diverse set of problems in the physical sciences, including properties of solids, liquids, gases, chemical reactions, interfaces and even the dynamics of a small protein. The model can be applied out of the box as a starting or "foundation" model for any atomistic system of interest and, when desired, can be fine-tuned on just a handful of application-specific data points to reach ab initio accuracy. Establishing that a stable force-field model can cover almost all materials changes atomistic modeling in a fundamental way: experienced users get reliable results much faster, and beginners face a lower barrier to entry. Foundation models thus represent a step towards democratising the revolution in atomic-scale modeling that has been brought about by ML force fields.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2025

Assessing zero-shot generalisation behaviour in graph-neural-network interatomic potentials

With the rapidly growing availability of machine-learned interatomic potential (MLIP) models for chemistry, much current research focuses on the development of generally applicable and ``foundational'' MLIPs. An important question in this context is whether, and how well, such models can transfer from one application domain to another. Here, we assess this transferability for an MLIP model at the interface of materials and molecular chemistry. Specifically, we study GO-MACE-23, a model designed for the extended covalent network of graphene oxide, and quantify its zero-shot performance for small, isolated molecules and chemical reactions outside its direct scope--in direct comparison with a state-of-the-art model which has been trained in-domain. Our work provides quantitative insight into the transfer and generalisation ability of graph-neural-network potentials and, more generally, makes a step towards the more widespread applicability of MLIPs in chemistry.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2024

Accelerated First-Principles Exploration of Structure and Reactivity in Graphene Oxide

Graphene oxide (GO) materials are widely studied, and yet their atomic-scale structures remain to be fully understood. Here we show that the chemical and configurational space of GO can be rapidly explored by advanced machine-learning methods, combining on-the-fly acceleration for first-principles molecular dynamics with message-passing neural-network potentials. The first step allows for the rapid sampling of chemical structures with very little prior knowledge required; the second step affords state-of-the-art accuracy and predictive power. We apply the method to the thermal reduction of GO, which we describe in a realistic (ten-nanometre scale) structural model. Our simulations are consistent with recent experimental findings and help to rationalise them in atomistic and mechanistic detail. More generally, our work provides a platform for routine, accurate, and predictive simulations of diverse carbonaceous materials.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2022

Exploring the configurational space of amorphous graphene with machine-learned atomic energies

Two-dimensionally extended amorphous carbon ("amorphous graphene") is a prototype system for disorder in 2D, showing a rich and complex configurational space that is yet to be fully understood. Here we explore the nature of amorphous graphene with an atomistic machine-learning (ML) model. We create structural models by introducing defects into ordered graphene through Monte-Carlo bond switching, defining acceptance criteria using the machine-learned local, atomic energies associated with a defect, as well as the nearest-neighbor (NN) environments. We find that physically meaningful structural models arise from ML atomic energies in this way, ranging from continuous random networks to paracrystalline structures. Our results show that ML atomic energies can be used to guide Monte-Carlo structural searches in principle, and that their predictions of local stability can be linked to short- and medium-range order in amorphous graphene. We expect that the former point will be relevant more generally to the study of amorphous materials, and that the latter has wider implications for the interpretation of ML potential models.

physics.chem-ph↗