Issue 19, 2025

Attractive and repulsive terms in multi-filament dispersion interactions

Abstract

Filamentary objects such as nano-wires, nanotubes and DNA are of current interest in physics, nanoscience, chemistry, biology and medicine. They can interact via strong, exceptionally long-ranged many-object van der Waals (vdW, dispersion) forces, causing them to cluster into multi-object bundles. We analyse their vdW interactions perturbatively, predicting N-object vdW energy contributions that alternate in sign with increasing N. Our findings are confirmed here via the first detailed analysis of a 4-cylinder vdW model. We also provide novel insights permitting these tendencies to be understood simply in terms of electronic screening and anti-screening. Our results suggest that a non-perturbative calculation will be required for reliable prediction of dispersion interactions in these ubiquitous systems.

Graphical abstract: Attractive and repulsive terms in multi-filament dispersion interactions

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
22 Mar 2025
Accepted
07 Apr 2025
First published
15 Apr 2025

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2025,27, 10291-10301

Attractive and repulsive terms in multi-filament dispersion interactions

S. Pal, J. F. Dobson and M. Boström, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2025, 27, 10291 DOI: 10.1039/D5CP01117E

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