Thermodynamic stability condition can judge whether a nanoparticle dispersion can be considered a solution in a single phase

Fluctuation adsorption theory: quantifying adsorbate–adsorbate interaction and interfacial phase transition from an isotherm

“…[10][11][12][13][22][23][24][25][26] This approach, promulgated in this paper for surface adsorption, has a track record of success in the solvation of small molecules and macromolecules, where simple models have caused much confusion over how and why the addition of a cosolvent can influence solubility, conformation, aggregation and assembly. [10][11][12][13][22][23][24][25][26] Its ability to quantify interactions between a specific pair of species solely from experimental data provided a clear guideline with which the accuracy and realism of a model can be judged. [10][11][12][13][22][23][24][25][26]…”

“…[10][11][12][13][22][23][24][25][26] Its ability to quantify interactions between a specific pair of species solely from experimental data provided a clear guideline with which the accuracy and realism of a model can be judged. [10][11][12][13][22][23][24][25][26]…”

“…Such a goal is a part of our continuous effort to provide a universal theoretical language that can be applied equally to the solvation of small molecules and macromolecules, 10 and to nanoparticle ''dispersions'', 11 molecules in confinement, and surface adsorption alike. In our previous papers, we have established a formal analogy between preferential solvation (for small and macromolecular solutes) and the Gibbs adsorption isotherm, 10,12,13 and a fundamental difference between the two, namely the number of independently-quantifiable interactions, arising from the Gibbs phase rule.…”

Cryogenic electron tomography to determine thermodynamic quantities for nanoparticle dispersions

“…The Kirkwood-Buff integrals (KBI) are one of the most common statistical mechanics approaches to determine many key thermodynamic properties such as chemical potential, partial molar volume, compressibility and osmotic pressure. [48][49][50] They are based on concentration fluctuation. KBIs are commonly used to extract thermodynamics quantities from molecular dynamics simulations where concentration fluctuation is followed along time.…”

Implicit function theorem and Jacobians in solvation and adsorption

“…Despite this, classical concepts in biomolecular solvation (such as preferential solvation [29,30], pressure [31] and volumetric [32] analyses), based originally on a purely phenomenological basis (such as stoichiometric binding or exchange models [33][34][35]), have been reformulated rigorously via fluctuation theory [36][37][38][39][40]. They became an essential tool for biomolecular stability [36,37,[41][42][43] and hydrotropic solubilization [44][45][46][47][48], applicable to small molecules, macromolecular assemblies and nanoparticles alike [16,[49][50][51][52]. (Biomolecular stability, for example, can be understood from the difference in preferential solvation between folded and denatured conformations of a protein [37,53,54].)…”