Paper Number
GG11 

Session
Arrested Systems: Gels and Glasses

Title
Microscopic interactions and emerging elasticity in model soft particulate gels

Presentation Date and Time
October 12, 2021 (Tuesday) 10:15

Track / Room
Track 6 / Ballroom 1

Authors (Click on name to view author profile)

1. Bantawa, Minaspi (Georgetown University, Department of Physics)
2. Fontaine-Seiler, Wayan A. (Georgetown University)
3. Olmsted, Peter D. (Georgetown University)
4. Del Gado, Emanuela (Georgetown University)

Author and Affiliation Lines (in printed abstract book)
Minaspi Bantawa, Wayan A. Fontaine-Seiler, Peter D. Olmsted and Emanuela Del Gado
Department of Physics, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057-0004

Speaker / Presenter 
Bantawa, Minaspi

Keywords
theoretical methods; computational methods; gels

Text of Abstract
We discuss a class of numerical models for particulate gels in which the particle contacts are described by an effective interaction combining a two-body attraction and a three-body angular repulsion. Using molecular dynamics, we show how varying the model parameters allows us to sample, for a given gelation protocol, a variety of gel morphologies. For a specific set of the model parameters, we identify the local elastic structures that get interlocked in the gel network. Using the analytical expression of their elastic energy from the microscopic interactions, we can estimate their contribution to the emergent elasticity of the gel and gain new insight into its origin.