Modeling fractal aggregates of polydisperse particles with tunable dimension

• Published in: Colloids and surfaces. A, Physicochemical and engineering aspects Physicochemical and engineering aspects, 2020-11, Vol.605, p.125331, Article 125331
• Main Authors: Tomchuk, Oleksandr V., Avdeev, Mikhail V., Bulavin, Leonid A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aggregate numerical generation; Fractal; Polydispersity; Small-angle scattering
• ISSN: 0927-7757; 1873-4359
• DOI: 10.1016/j.colsurfa.2020.125331

[Display omitted] •Generalized non-kinetic off-lattice algorithm to construct stochastic fractal clusters.•Tunable cluster parameters including fractal dimension and polydispersity of particles.•Covering the full range of natural mass fractal dimensions between one and three.•Correlation analysis of numerically generated clusters in both direct and reciprocal spaces.•Previous similar algorithms are special cases of the presented approach. A generalized non-kinetic off-lattice algorithm to construct stochastic fractal clusters of polydisperse particles with tunable cluster parameters including dimension, is presented. The model based on a hierarchical procedure extends the previous studies in this area to the general case of the cluster-cluster aggregation and, in contrast to the previous kinetic models, makes it possible to generate clusters with a continuous change in the structure, in particular, covering the full range of natural mass fractal dimensions between one and three. An example of the morphological study of numerically generated clusters based on the correlation analysis in both direct and reciprocal spaces is given. In the latter case, it is demonstrated that the use of the developed fast algorithm gives an accurate and self-consistent description of the small-angle scattering data.