Effect of Polydispersity and Anisotropy in Colloidal and Protein Solutions: an Integral Equation Approach

Application of integral equation theory to complex fluids is reviewed, with particular emphasis to the effects of polydispersity and anisotropy on their structural and thermodynamic properties. Both analytical and numerical solutions of integral equations are discussed within the context of a set of minimal potential models that have been widely used in the literature. While other popular theoretical tools, such as numerical simulations and density functional theory, are superior for quantitative and accurate predictions, we argue that integral equation theory still provides, as in simple fluids, an invaluable technique that is able to capture the main essential features of a complex system, at a much lower computational cost. In addition, it can provide a detailed description of the angular dependence in arbitrary frame, unlike numerical simulations where this information is frequently hampered by insufficient statistics. Applications to colloidal mixtures, globular proteins and patchy colloids are discussed, within a unified framework.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, to appear in Interdiscip. Sci. Comput. Life Sci. (2011), special issue dedicated to Prof. Lesser Blu

Evolution of the liquid-vapor coexistence of the hard-core Yukawa fluid as a function of the interaction range

International audienceThe present work is devoted to the study of the liquid-vapor coexistence curve of hard-core Yukawa fluids for range parameter lambda, going from 0.5 to 7 by means of an integral equation approach. Both binodal and spinodal lines are computed and compared to available simulation data, and the integral equation used appears to be accurate. We also compare two methods for determining the coordinates of the critical point. The first one, using the rectilinear diameter law, appears to be less accurate than the second one based on the heat capacity at constant volume. It is found that the critical temperature decreases as the range of the interactions increases and that the liquid-vapor coexistence disappears for lambda greater than 6

Integral equation Study of the Square-Well Fluid for Varying Attraction Range

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