Competition between clustering and phase separation in binary mixtures containing SALR particles

Abstract

We investigate by Monte Carlo simulations a mixture of particles with competing interactions (hard-sphere two-Yukawa, HSTY) and hard spheres (HS), with same diameters σ and a square-well (SW) cross attraction....

Like aggregation from unlike attraction: stripes in symmetric mixtures of cross-attracting hard spheres

“…Similarly to what we did in ref. 31, two particles are said to be bonded together when, irrespective of the types, their separation is smaller than d bond = 1.25 (we have checked that results are insensitive to the specific d bond in the range from 1.15 to 1.4). In panels B 1 –B 4 of Fig.…”

“…In ref. 31 the like interaction is a HS potential for one species and HS plus a SALR (i.e., short-range attractive and long-range repulsive) potential for the other species, while the cross interaction is modeled by a SW potential. Finally, in ref.…”

“…[38][39][40][41] However, ref. 31 suggests that the cross interaction too plays a role in the stabilization of stripes, as the latter are only present when the SW range is long enough.…”

“…22–25 On the other hand, competing interactions, as the SALR potential considered in ref. 30 and 31, are often responsible in one-component systems for self-assembling behaviours of various types, including stripes. 38–41 However, ref.…”

“…The formation of striped structures has been investigated, though less extensively, also in mixtures, where they have been described both in experiments 4,26 and in numerical investigations. [27][28][29][30][31] In principle, mixtures of colloidal particles with different optical characteristics can find application in photonic devices, sensors, and even microchips. 32,33 In particular, a binary mixture self-assembling in a striped crystal can be assimilated to a photonic crystal with dielectric properties modulated along a specific direction.…”