Translational and rotational motion in molecular liquids: A computer simulation study of Lennard-Jones ellipsoids

Ravichandran, S and Perera, A and Moreau, M and Bagchi, B (1997) Translational and rotational motion in molecular liquids: A computer simulation study of Lennard-Jones ellipsoids. In: Journal of Chemical Physics, The, 107 (20). 8469-8475 .

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Abstract

In order to understand the translational and rotational motion in dense molecular liquids, detailed molecular dynamics simulations of Lennard-Jones ellipsoids have been carried out for three different values of the aspect ratio kappa. For ellipsoids with an aspect ratio equal to 2, the product of the translational diffusion coefficient (D-T) and the average orientational correlation time of the l-th rank harmonics (tau(lR)), converges to a nearly constant value at high density. Surprisingly, this density independent value of D-T tau(lR) is within 5% of the hydrodynamic prediction with the slip boundary condition. This is despite the fact that both D-T and tau(lR) themselves change nearly by an order of magnitude in the density range considered, and the rotational correlation function itself is strongly nonexponential. For small aspect ratios (kappa less than or equal to 1.5), the rotational correlation function remains largely Gaussian even at a very large density, while for a large aspect ratio (kappa greater than or equal to 3), the transition to the nematic liquid-crystalline phase precludes the hydrodynamic regime. Thus, the rotational dynamics of ellipsoids show great sensitivity to the aspect ratio. At low density, tau(lR) goes through a minimum value, indicating the role of interactions in enhancing the rate of orientational relaxation. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-9606(97)50142-5].

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Journal of Chemical Physics, The
Publisher:	American Institute of Physics
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to American Institute of Physics.
Department/Centre:	Division of Chemical Sciences > Solid State & Structural Chemistry Unit
Date Deposited:	22 Jun 2011 06:10
Last Modified:	22 Jun 2011 06:10
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/38555

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