A general model for frictional contacts in colloidal systems

TL;DR

This paper develops a thermodynamically consistent model for frictional contacts in colloidal systems, incorporating thermal fluctuations and rotation-translation coupling, impacting simulations of colloidal flow and phase separation.

Contribution

It introduces a new generalized class of dissipative particle dynamics thermostats that include frictional contact interactions with thermal fluctuations for colloids.

Findings

Frictional contacts influence colloidal flow behavior.

New DPD thermostats incorporate rotation-translation coupling.

Friction affects phase separation in active particles.

Abstract

In simulations of colloidal matter, frictional contacts between particles are often neglected. For spherical colloids, such an approximation can be problematic, since frictional contacts couple translational and rotational degrees of freedom, which may affect the collective behavior of, e.g., colloids under shear and chiral active matter. Deterministic models for frictional contacts have been proposed in the granular matter community. On the colloidal scale, however, thermal fluctuations are important and should be included in a thermodynamically consistent manner. Here, we derive the correct fluctuation-dissipation relation for linear and nonlinear instantaneous frictional contact interactions. Among other, this generates a new generalized class of dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) thermostats with rotation-translation coupling. We demonstrate effects of frictional contact interactions using the examples of Poiseuille flow and motility induced phase separation in active Langevin particles.