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Dynamics of a Spreading Nanodroplet: A Molecular Dynamic Simulation
Author(s) -
Yaneva Jacqueline,
Milchev Andrey,
Binder Kurt
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
macromolecular theory and simulations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.37
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1521-3919
pISSN - 1022-1344
DOI - 10.1002/mats.200350021
Subject(s) - mean squared displacement , molecular dynamics , polymer , radius of gyration , wetting , radius , displacement (psychology) , mean square , square (algebra) , range (aeronautics) , materials science , dynamics (music) , physics , chemistry , geometry , computational chemistry , composite material , mathematics , statistics , psychology , computer science , acoustics , psychotherapist , computer security
The spreading of polymer nanodroplets upon a sudden change from partial to complete wetting on an ideally flat and structureless solid substrate has been studied by molecular dynamic simulations using a coarse‐grained bead‐spring model of flexible macromolecules. Tanner's law for the growth of the lateral droplet radius { R ( t ) ∝ t 0.1 } is found to hold as long as the droplet does not disintegrate into individually moving chains. The data for the contact angle θ following from Tanner's law correspond to a dependence on time { θ ( t ) ∝ t −0.3 }. Our analysis of the mean square displacements of the polymer centers of mass reveals several dynamic regimes during the process of spreading. PACS numbers: 68.10.Gw, 05.70.Ln, 61.20.Ja, 8.45.Gd.Molecular dynamics results for the average mean square displacement of all polymer chains plotted vs. time for a broad range of values for ε wall .