Connection of Landau-Ginsburg models with continuous microscopic approach for self-assembling systems

✍ Scribed by M. Holovko; S. Kondrat

• Book ID: 104303448
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2001
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 241 KB
• Volume: 92
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0167-7322
• DOI: 10.1016/s0167-7322(01)00184-2

✦ Synopsis

Studies of the self-assembling systems are usually carried out by (i) using microscopic lattice models or (ii) by exploring the Landau-Ginsburg density functionais (see e.g. [1]). In this work we try to link the connection between these approaches in a more general case of microscopic continuous Hamiltonian. We map this microscopic Hamiltonian onto a Landan-Ginsburg functional for self-assembhng systems by using collective variables method (see e.g. [9]).

We consider a three-component system which includes oil-like, water-like and surfactant molecules. Surfactant molecules could be modeled by two-types of water-like polar head and oil-like surfactant tail particles in a site-site description level or in the molecular level.

In the atom-atom approach the so-called "charge frustrated" density functionals [6] are obtained; it is confirmed that taking into account the intra-molecular structure of surfactant molecules leads to Coulombic terms in the effective Hamiltonian. The connection of different types of Landau-Giusburg Hamiltonians with the molecular-description level is discussed.