Effect of solvent on directional drift in Brownian motion of particle/molecule with broken symmetry

FD Kong and N Sheng and RZ Wan and GH Hu and HP Fang, SCIENCE CHINA- PHYSICS MECHANICS & ASTRONOMY, 59, 680511 (2016).

DOI: 10.1007/s11433-016-0033-4

The directional drifting of particles/molecules with broken symmetry has received increasing attention. Through molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate the effects of various solvents on the time-dependent directional drifting of a particle with broken symmetry. Our simulations show that the distance of directional drift of the asymmetrical particle is reduced while the ratio of the drift to the mean displacement of the particle is enhanced with increasing mass, size, and interaction strength of the solvent atoms in a short time range. Among the parameters considered, solvent atom size is a particularly influential factor for enhancing the directional drift of asymmetrical particles, while the effects of the interaction strength and the mass of the solvent atoms are relatively weaker. These findings are of great importance to the understanding and control of the Brownian motion of particles in various physical, chemical, and biological processes within finite time spans.

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