Issue 22, 2013

Energy landscapes, structural topologies and rearrangement mechanisms in clusters of dipolar particles

Abstract

Clusters of spherical particles with isotropic attraction favour compact structures that maximise the number of energetically optimal nearest-neighbour interactions. In contrast, dipolar interactions lead to the formation of chains with a low coordination number. When both isotropic and dipolar interactions are present, the competition between them can lead to intricate knot, link and coil structures. Here, we investigate how these structures may self-organise and interconvert in clusters bound by the Stockmayer potential (Lennard-Jones plus point dipole). We map out the low-lying region of the energy landscape using disconnectivity graphs to follow how it evolves as the strength of the dipolar interactions increases. From comprehensive surveys of isomerisation pathways, we identify a number of rearrangement mechanisms that allow the topology of chain-like structures to interconvert.

Graphical abstract: Energy landscapes, structural topologies and rearrangement mechanisms in clusters of dipolar particles

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
12 Mar 2013
Accepted
29 Apr 2013
First published
08 May 2013
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Soft Matter, 2013,9, 5407-5416

Energy landscapes, structural topologies and rearrangement mechanisms in clusters of dipolar particles

J. D. Farrell, C. Lines, J. J. Shepherd, D. Chakrabarti, M. A. Miller and D. J. Wales, Soft Matter, 2013, 9, 5407 DOI: 10.1039/C3SM50711D

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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