Contributed Talk

Closed-Form Coexistence Equation for Phase Separation of Polymeric Mixtures in Dissipative Particle Dynamics


Pieter J. in 't Veld
BASF
Dingeman L. H. van der Haven
University of Cambridge
Stephan Koehler
BASF
Eduard Schreiner
BASF
  • Wednesday, 11 Aug 2021
  • 10:45 - 11:00 EDT
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To date, no extensive study of the phase diagram for binary fluid mixtures in dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) has been published. This is especially pertinent for newer parameterization schemes where the self-self interaction, or the effective volume, of different particle types is varied. This work presents an exhaustive study of the parameter space concerning DPD particles with soft interaction potentials. Moreover, we propose a closed-form coexistence equation or binodal curve that is inspired by the Flory-Huggins model. This equation describes the phase diagram of all binary mixtures made up out of monomers, homopolymers, and the mixtures thereof when self-self interactions are varied. The mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of the equation on simulated data, including validation simulations, is 1.02%. The equation can a priori predict the phase separation of mixtures using only DPD interaction parameters. The proposed coexistence equation can therefore be used to directly validate interaction parameters resulting from novel parameterization schemes, including coarse graining and equations of state, without the need for additional simulations. Finally, it is shown that the choice of bond potential markedly influences phase behavior.