Viscoelastic properties of dendrimers in the melt from nonequlibrium molecular dynamics

The viscoelastic properties of dendrimers of generation 1-4 are studied using nonequilibrium molecular dynamics. Flow properties of dendrimer melts under shear are compared to systems composed of linear chain polymers of the same molecular weight, and the influence of molecular architecture is discussed. Rheological material properties, such as the shear viscosity and normal stress coefficients, are calculated and compared for both systems. We also calculate and compare the microscopic properties of both linear chain and dendrimer molecules, such as their molecular alignment, order parameters and rotational velocities. We find that the highly symmetric shape of dendrimers and their highly constrained geometry allows for substantial differences in their material properties compared to traditional linear polymers of equivalent molecular weight.     

Effect of potential truncations and shifts on the solid-liquid phase coexistence of Lennard-Jones fluids

Molecular simulation results for the solid-liquid coexistence properties of untruncated, truncated, truncated and shifted, and truncated and shifted-force 12-6 Lennard-Jones potentials are reported. It is found that solid-liquid coexistence properties vary systematically with potential truncations, shifts, and cut-off values. Potential truncations and shifts have important consequences at low temperatures, particularly in the vicinity of the triple point. The main influence is on the coexistence pressure whereas both liquid and solid densities are less sensitive to the truncations and shifts. The data reported in this work indicate that the cut-off radius mainly affects the properties of the liquid phase whereas its influence on the solid phase is almost negligible. The data suggest a monotonic variation of the melting temperature as a function of cut-off radius, which contradicts the oscillatory behavior of the melting temperature reported elsewhere.     

Molecular dynamics simulation of the dielectric constant of water: the effect of bond flexibility

The role of bond flexibility on the dielectric constant of water is investigated via molecular dynamics simulations using a flexible intermolecular potential SPC/Fw [Y. Wu, H. L. Tepper, and G. A. Voth, J. Chem. Phys. 128, 024503 (2006)]. Dielectric constants and densities are reported for the liquid phase at temperatures of 298.15 K and 473.15 K and the supercritical phase at 673.15 K for pressures between 0.1 MPa and 200 MPa. Comparison with both experimental data and other rigid bond intermolecular potentials indicates that introducing bond flexibility significantly improves the prediction of both dielectric constants and pressure-temperature-density behavior. In some cases, the predicted densities and dielectric constants almost exactly coincide with experimental data. The results are analyzed in terms of dipole moments, quadrupole moments, and equilibrium bond angles and lengths. It appears that bond flexibility allows the molecular dipole and quadrupole moment to change with the thermodynamic state point, and thereby mimic the change of the intermolecular interactions in response to the local environment.