Liquid drop model of polymer micelles

Doukas, Andreas Kyriakos (author), Ziherl, Primož (mentor)

We present a theoretical study of the liquid-drop model, a novel coarse-grained approach which describes the micromechanics of soft nanocolloidal particles by modelling them as compressible liquid drops. The liquid-drop free energy consists of a bulk and a surface term, which allows one to describe particles with a wide range of compressibilities and one or more types of contacts with their environment, either with other drops or with solvent. Using the cell approximation, we investigate the phase diagrams of the model in both three and two dimensions as well as the appearance of layered quasicrystals in deformable nanoparticles.

• Language: English
• Keywords: soft polymeric nanoparticles, liquid-drop model, deformation free energy, phase diagram, particles at interface, isostructural phase transitions, quasicrystals
• Work type: Doctoral dissertation
• Typology: 2.08 - Doctoral Dissertation
• Organization: FMF - Faculty of Mathematics and Physics
• Year: 2019
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-112662
• COBISS.SI-ID: 3380580
• Publication date in RUL: 31.10.2019

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Kapljični model polimernih micel

Abstract

Disertacija združuje več teoretičnih raziskav kapljičnega modela, novega efektivnega opisa mikromehaničnih lastnosti mehkih nanokoloidnih delcev, v katerem te delce predstavimo kot stisljive kapljice. Prosta energija kapljičnega modela sestoji iz prostorninskega in iz površinskega člena, s čimer lahko zajamemo tako zelo stisljive kot domala nestisljive delce ter eno ali več vrst stikov delcev z okolico bodisi z drugimi delci bodisi s topilom. V okviru celičnega približka izračunamo fazne diagrame modela tako v dveh kot v treh razsežnostih kot tudi plastovite kvazikristale deformabilnih nanodelcev.

• Keywords: mehki polimerni nanodelci, kaplji£ni model, deformacijska prosta energija, fazni diagram, delci na gladini, izostrukturni fazni prehodi, kvazikristali