Structure and phase behavior of two-Yukawa fluids with competing interactions in planar slit pores

The influence of confinement on the structure of colloidal systems with competing interactions

Colloidal systems with competing interactions have a complex phase diagram with several periodic microphases, in which particles are arranged in lamellae, cylinders or clusters. Using grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations, we investigate how the structure of the colloidal fluid can be modified by confinement in channels with different cross-section geometries and sizes. We pay particular attention to the hexagonal cylindrical phase since it is the most susceptible to form new structures from. In particular, we considered pores with elliptical, triangular, squared, hexagonal, and wedged-cylindrical cross-sections. Our results show that the structure of the confined fluid depends on the commensurability of the bulk periodic structure with the confining cross-section of the channel. We also find that the structure of the confined fluid can be modified by inserting wedges of appropriate geometry and size. These geometrical modifications of the confining pores can be exploited for the controlled assembly of colloidal structures.

Self-assembly of spiral patterns in confined systems with competing interactions

Colloidal particles in polymer solutions and functionalized nanoparticles often exhibit short-range attraction coupled with long-range repulsion (SALR) leading to the spontaneous formation of symmetric patterns. Chiral nanostructures formed by thin films of SALR particles have not been reported yet. In this study, we observe striking topological transitions from a symmetric pattern of concentric rings to a chiral structure of a spiral shape, when the system is in hexagonal confinement. We find that the spiral formation can be induced either by breaking the system symmetry with a wedge, or by melting of the rings. In the former case, the chirality of the spiral is determined by the orientation of the wedge and thus can be controlled. In the latter, the spiral arises due to thermally induced defects and is absent in the average particle distribution, which forms highly regular hexagonal patterns in the central part of the system. These hexagonal patterns can be explained by interference of planar density waves. Thermodynamic considerations indicate that equilibrium spirals can appear spontaneously in any stripe-forming system confined in a hexagon with a small wedge, provided that certain conditions are satisfied by a set of phenomenological parameters.

Phase behavior and bulk structural properties of a microphase former with anisotropic competing interactions: A density functional theory study

Using classical density functional theory, we investigate systems exhibiting interactions where a short-range anisotropic attractive force competes with a long-range spherically symmetric repulsive force. The former is modelled within Wertheim's first-order perturbation theory for patchy particles, and the repulsive part is assumed to be a Yukawa potential which is taken into account via a mean-field approximation. From previous studies of systems with spherically symmetric competing interactions, it is well known that such systems can exhibit stable bulk cluster phases (microphase separation) provided that the repulsion is sufficiently weak compared to the attraction. For the present model system, we find rich phase diagrams including both reentrant clustering and liquid-gas binodals. In particular, the model predicts inhomogeneous bulk phases at extremely low packing fractions, which cannot be observed in systems with isotropic competing interactions.

Two-Yukawa fluid at a hard wall: Field theory treatment

We apply a field-theoretical approach to study the structure and thermodynamics of a two-Yukawa fluid confined by a hard wall. We derive mean field equations allowing for numerical evaluation of the density profile which is compared to analytical estimations. Beyond the mean field approximation, analytical expressions for the free energy, the pressure, and the correlation function are derived. Subsequently, contributions to the density profile and the adsorption coefficient due to Gaussian fluctuations are found. Both the mean field and the fluctuation terms of the density profile are shown to satisfy the contact theorem. We further use the contact theorem to improve the Gaussian approximation for the density profile based on a better approximation for the bulk pressure. The results obtained are compared to computer simulation data.

Microphase separations of the fluids with spherically symmetric competing interactions

A density functional perturbation theory has been developed for studying the phase behaviors of a competing system in the spherical pores. The pore size as well as the intensity of competing interactions exerts a strong influence on the vapor-liquid, vapor-cluster, and cluster-liquid transitions of a competing system. The microdomain spacing (D) of the cluster is commensurate with the periodicity of modulation in the particle density distributions of a competing system in a spherical pore with the pore radius (R). For the cluster phase, we find that the multi-vaporlike void is formed depending on the periodicity of modulation by finite-size artifacts. For R < D, the competing system only shows the vapor-liquid transition at a high amplitude. For R > D, the vapor-cluster and cluster-liquid transitions are found at a high amplitude, whereas at a low amplitude, the cluster-liquid transition only occurs. The competing system exhibits two tricritical points, which are joined to one another by the line of second-order transitions at the low and high densities. A comparison with the result of a slit pore shows that (i) the tricritical points in a spherical pore, which has the highest symmetry, occur at a low amplitude compared with that of a slit pore because of the geometrical properties of the pores, and that (ii) the slit pore relatively shows the wide vapor-cluster and cluster-liquid coexistence regions compared with that of a spherical pore: the geometrical symmetry of a pore results in a weaker tendency for phase separation.