Using molecular-dynamics simulations and integral equations (Rogers-Young, Percus-Yevick, and hypernetted chain closures) we investigate the thermodynamics of particles interacting with continuous core-softened intermolecular potential. Dynamic properties are also analyzed by the simulations. We show that, for a chosen shape of the potential, the density, at constant pressure, has a maximum for a certain temperature. The line of temperatures of maximum density (TMD) was determined in the pressure-temperature phase diagram. Similarly the diffusion constant at a constant temperature, D, has a maximum at a density ρmax and a minimum at a density ρmin<ρmax. In the pressure-temperature phase diagram the line of extrema in diffusivity is outside of the TMD line. Although this interparticle potential lacks directionality, this is the same behavior observed in simple point charge/extended water.

We investigate by molecular dynamics simulations a continuous isotropic core-softened potential with attractive well in three dimensions, introduced by Franzese [J. Mol. Liq. 136, 267 (2007)], that displays liquid-liquid coexistence with a critical point and waterlike density anomaly. Besides the thermodynamic anomalies, here we find diffusion and structural anomalies. The anomalies, not observed in the discrete version of this model, occur with the same hierarchy that characterizes water. We discuss the differences in the anomalous behavior of the continuous and the discrete model in the framework of the excess entropy, calculated within the pair correlation approximation.

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAm) is a smart polymer that presents a lower critical transition temperature (LCST) of 305 K. Interestingly, this transition point falls within the range of the human body temperature, making PNIPAm a highly suitable candidate for bio-medical applications. However, it is sometimes desirable to have a rather flexible tuning of the LCST of these polymers to further increase their range of applications. In this work, we use all-atom molecular dynamics simulations to study the LCST of PNIPAm-based (co-)polymers. We study different molecular architectures where the polymer sequences are tuned either by modifying its stereochemistry or by the co-polymerization of PNIPAm with acrylamide (Am) units. Our analysis connects global polymer conformations with the microscopic intermolecular interactions. These findings suggest that the collapse of a PNIPAm chain upon heating is dependent on the hydration structure around the monomers, which is strongly dependent on the tacticity and the presence of more hydrophilic acrylamide monomers. Our results are found to be in good agreement with the existing experimental data.

We present the results of molecular dynamics simulations of the extended simple point charge model of water to investigate the thermodynamic and dynamic properties of stretched and supercooled water. We locate the liquid–gas spinodal, and confirm that the spinodal pressure increases monotonically with T, supporting thermodynamic scenarios for the phase behavior of supercooled water involving a “non-reentrant” spinodal. The dynamics at negative pressure show a minimum in the diffusion constant D when the density is decreased at constant temperature, complementary to the known maximum of D at higher pressures. We locate the loci of minima of D relative to the spinodal, showing that the locus is inside the thermodynamically metastable regions of the phase diagram. These dynamical results reflect the initial enhancement and subsequent breakdown of the tetrahedral structure and of the hydrogen bond network as the density decreases.

Using molecular dynamics simulations we investigate the structure of a system of particles interacting through a continuous core-softened interparticle potential. We found for the translational order parameter t a local maximum at a density ρt-max and a local minimum at ρt-min>ρt-max. Between ρt-max and ρt-min, the t parameter anomalously decreases upon increasing pressure. For the orientational order parameter Q6 a maximum was observed at a density ρt-max<ρQmax<ρt-min. For densities between ρQmax and ρt-min, both the translational (t) and orientational (Q6) order parameters have anomalous behavior. We know that this system also exhibits density and diffusion anomalies. We found that the region in the pressure-temperature phase diagram of the structural anomaly englobes the region of the diffusion anomaly that is larger than the region limited by the temperature of maximum density. This cascade of anomalies (structural, dynamic, and thermodynamic) for our model has the same hierarchy as that observed for the simple point charge/extended water.