A STRUCTURAL COMPARISON OF RANDOM SEQUENTIAL ADSORPTION AND EQUILIBRIUM-CONFIGURATIONS OF SPHEROCYLINDERS

The structure of two-dimensional configurations of spherocylinders (di scorectangles) generated by random sequential adsorption (RSA) is anal yzed via the circular harmonic expansion of the pair distribution func tion and compared to that of equilibrium fluids at the same density. T he structural differences are minimal for short particles but become m ore pronounced as the aspect ratio of the particles increases. An anal ysis of the correlations between particles which adsorb at high covera ge with their nearest neighbors in saturated RSA configurations, revea ls that the most probable relative orientation for particles with aspe ct ratio alpha approximate to 2 is perpendicular. This observation hel ps to explain the maximum in saturation coverage as a function of part icle elongation near the aspect ratio alpha=2.