3D Monte Carlo simulations on the aggregate structures of a suspension composed of cubic hematite particles

In the previous study, from the viewpoint of surface modification technology, we considered a quasi-2D suspension in thermodynamic equilibrium in order to investigate the characteristics of magnetic cubic particles on a material surface. The present study has been expanded to include 3D Monte Carlo simulations of a suspension of magnetic cubic particles in order to discuss a regime change in the structures of cubic particle aggregates. We attempt to elucidate the dependence of a regime change in the aggregate structures on a variety of factors. The main results obtained here are summarised as follows. If the magnetic interaction strength is sufficiently large, closely packed clusters are formed by repeat and expansion of a cluster unit composed of eight particles, which may be the most preferred configuration as it gives rise to a minimum energy. A regime change in the internal structure of aggregates appears in a narrow range with increasing magnetic interaction strength. As the applied magnetic field strength is increased, closely packed clusters collapse and are transformed into wall-like clusters that are formed along the magnetic field direction. An increase in the volumetric fraction of particles induces a regime change from thick chain-like clusters to the formation of wall-like clusters.     

Quasi-2D Monte Carlo simulations of a colloidal dispersion composed of magnetic plate-like particles with magnetic moment normal to the particle axis

We have investigated aggregation phenomena of a colloidal dispersion composed of magnetic plate-like particles by means of Monte Carlo simulations. Such plate-like particles have been modelled as disk-like particles with magnetic moment normal to the particle axis at the particle centre, with the section shape of a spherocylinder. The main objective of the present study is to clarify the influences of the magnetic field strength and magnetic interactions between particles on particle aggregation phenomena. We have concentrated our attention on a quasi-2D system from an application point of view such as the development of surface quality changing technology using such magnetic plate-like particles. A magnetic field is applied along the direction perpendicular to the plane of the monolayer. Internal structures of particle aggregates are discussed quantitatively in terms of radial distribution and orientational pair correlation functions. For the case of strong magnetic interactions between particles, particles form long column-like clusters with their magnetic moments alternating in direction between the neighbouring particles. These tendencies appear under circumstances of a weak applied magnetic field. However, as the magnetic field strength increases, particles incline towards the magnetic field direction, so that particles do not form such clusters.     

Quasi-2D Monte Carlo simulations of phase transitions and internal aggregate structures in a highly dense suspension composed of magnetic plate-like particles

The phase transitions and the internal aggregate structures of a highly dense suspension composed of magnetic plate-like particles with a magnetic moment normal to the particle axis have been investigated by means of the Monte Carlo method. The present study considered a quasi-2D system in order to clarify the influences of the volumetric fraction of particles and the magnetic field strength on particle aggregations and phase transitions. The internal structures of particle aggregates have been discussed quantitatively in terms of pair correlation functions, orientational pair correlation functions, nematic and polar order parameters. The main results obtained here are summarized as follows. When the influence of the magnetic interaction between particles is of the same order of that of the perpendicular magnetic field strength, the particles form column-like clusters, and the internal structure of the suspension shows solid-like structures. For the case of a strong applied magnetic field, the internal structure is transformed from solid-like structures into isotropic ones. However, as the volumetric fraction increases, the particles form brick wall-like structures under the situation of a strong applied magnetic field, and the internal structure exhibits solid-like ones. The brick wall-like structures also appear for a relatively weak magnetic field applied along the in-plane direction despite a slightly smaller volumetric fraction compared with the case of the perpendicular applied magnetic field.     

Brownian dynamics simulations with spin Brownian motion on the negative magneto-rheological effect of a rod-like hematite particle suspension

We have investigated the behaviour of a suspension of magnetic rod-like hematite particles in a simple shear flow with the addition of an applied magnetic field. A significant feature of the present hematite particle suspension is the fact that the magnetic moment of the hematite particle lies normal to the particle-axis direction. From simulations, we have attempted to clarify the dependence of the negative magneto-rheological effect on the particle aggregation and orientational distribution of particles. The present Brownian dynamics method has a significant advantage in that it takes into account the spin rotational Brownian motion about the particle axis in addition to the ordinary translational and rotational Brownian motion. The net viscosity is decomposed into three components and discussed at a deeper level and in detail: these three viscosity components arise from (1) the torque due to the magnetic particle–field interaction, (2) the torque and (3) the force due to the interaction between particles. It is found that a slight change in the orientational distribution has a significant influence on the negative magneto-rheological effect. In a relatively dense suspension, the viscosity components arising from an applied magnetic field and the interaction between particles come to change rapidly for a certain strength of the magnetic particle–particle interaction, which is due to the onset of the formation of raft-like clusters.     

Monte Carlo simulation of many-arm star polymers in two-dimensional good solvents in the bulk and at a surface

A Monte Carlo technique is proposed for the simulation of statistical properties of many-arm star polymers on lattices. In this vectorizing algorithm, the length of each arml is increased by one, step by step, from a starting configuration withl=1 orl=2 which is generated directly. This procedure is carried out for a large sample (e.g., 100,000 configurations). As an application, we have studied self-avoiding stars on the square lattice with arm lengths up tol _max=125 and up tof=20 arms, both in the bulk and in the geometry where the center of the star is adsorbed on a repulsive surface. The total number of configurations, which behaves asNl ^{G–1 fl} , where=2.6386 is the usual effective coordination number for self-avoiding walks on the square lattice, is analyzed, and the resulting exponents G=(f) and _s (f) for the bulk and surface geometries are found to be compatible with predictions of Duplantier and Saleur based on conformai invariance methods. We also obtain distribution functions for the monomer density and the distance of the end of an arm from its center. The results are consistent with a scaling theory developed by us.