Molecular Dynamics Simulations of 2d Size‐Polydisperse Fluid Close to the Freezing Transition

Abstract

AbstractThe effect of particle size‐polydispersity on the static equilibrium properties of a model 2d‐fluid is studied considering two types of size‐distributions, namely, Gaussian (G) and uniform (U) using computer simulations. In this study, constant NPT molecular dynamics simulations is performed and the results are compared with that of the corresponding size‐monodisperse fluid. In particular, the effect of size‐disparity on the liquid‐solid transition, local and global particle ordering around the freezing/melting transition is investigated. It is found that the transition temperature (T*) is elevated by the introduction of size polydispersity in the system. The value of global hexatic order parameter for polydisperse systems is far below 50%, while it is around 80% for size‐monodisperse fluid at the respective T*.