SIMULATION OF PARTICLE ADSORPTION ONTO A POLYMER-COATED SURFACE USINGTHE DISSIPATIVE PARTICLE DYNAMICS METHOD

Dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) was originated as a tool for perfo rming fluid dynamics simulations of complex fluids and among other thi ngs has been used to simulate dilute polymer solutions. This report de scribes a new application of the technique-modeling the adsorption of colloidal particles onto a polymer-coated surface. This type of simula tion would be beyond the scope of molecular dynamics but is effectivel y modeled with DPD, The preliminary results of these investigations, p resented here, show good agreement with what might be predicted theore tically. They show that the colloidal particles would be less likely t o adsorb onto the surface as the size of the polymer relative to the p article is increased, or similarly as the density of the polymers is i ncreased. They also show that particle adsorption is reduced when the polymer is well solvated. They demonstrate how particles that have agg lomerated with each other find it more difficult to penetrate a polyme r barrier because of their greater size. Further investigation is requ ired to understand the effects of temperature. (C) 1998 Academic Press .