Effects of polydispersity on hard sphere crystals

We use simple models and molecular dynamics simulations to determine the effects of polydispersity δ on the equation of state for hard sphere crystals. Experiments show that the osmotic pressure for poly-(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) spheres with a poly-(12-hydroxy stearic acid) (PHSA) layer with a 5% polydispersity exceeds the value expected for hard spheres as the volume fraction φ increases, particularly for φ>0.60. Mean field theory predicts a higher osmotic pressure with increasing polydispersity, but the effects are only significant for δ>0.10. Molecular dynamics simulations with δ=0.05 bound the equation of state between a metastable disordered upper limit and a crystalline organized polydisperse (possibly) lower limit. The pressure for the PMMA-PHSA spheres lies close to the organized polydisperse limit, indicating a preference for a crystalline ordered arrangement where smaller particles surround larger ones. Thus, the higher osmotic pressure seen in the equation of state of PMMA-PHSA spheres is a...

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