Densest-Packed Columnar Structures of Hard Spheres: An Investigation of the Structural Dependence of Electrical Conductivity

Identical hard spheres in cylindrical confinement exhibit a rich variety of densest-packed columnar structures. Such structures, which generally vary with the corresponding cylinder-to-sphere diameter ratio D, serve as structural models for a variety of experimental systems at the micro- or nano-sca...

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Autores principales:	Panpan Ma, Ho-Kei Chan
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	packing structure conductivity resistor network sphere helix Physics QC1-999
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/254e9042b8a04ad2b815208bac558221
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:254e9042b8a04ad2b815208bac5582212021-11-05T14:47:13ZDensest-Packed Columnar Structures of Hard Spheres: An Investigation of the Structural Dependence of Electrical Conductivity2296-424X10.3389/fphy.2021.778001https://doaj.org/article/254e9042b8a04ad2b815208bac5582212021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphy.2021.778001/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/2296-424XIdentical hard spheres in cylindrical confinement exhibit a rich variety of densest-packed columnar structures. Such structures, which generally vary with the corresponding cylinder-to-sphere diameter ratio D, serve as structural models for a variety of experimental systems at the micro- or nano-scale. In this research, the electrical conductivity as a function of D has been studied for four different types of such columnar structures. It was found that, for increasing D, the electrical conductivity of each type of structures decreases monotonously, as a result of the system’s resistive components becoming more densely packed along the long axis of the cylindrical space. However, there exists a discontinuous rise in the system’s electrical conductivity at D=1+3/2 (discontinuous zigzag-to-single-helix transition) and D = 2 (discontinuous double-helix-to-double-helix transition), respectively, as a result of the establishment of additional conducting paths upon an abrupt increase in the number of inter-particle contacts. This is not the case for the continuous single-helix-to-double-helix transition at D=1+43/7. The results, which tell us how the system’s electrical conductivity can be tuned through a variation of D, could serve as a guide for the development of quasi-one-dimensional materials with a structurally tunable electrical conductivity.Panpan MaHo-Kei ChanFrontiers Media S.A.articlepackingstructureconductivityresistor networkspherehelixPhysicsQC1-999ENFrontiers in Physics, Vol 9 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	packing structure conductivity resistor network sphere helix Physics QC1-999
spellingShingle	packing structure conductivity resistor network sphere helix Physics QC1-999 Panpan Ma Ho-Kei Chan Densest-Packed Columnar Structures of Hard Spheres: An Investigation of the Structural Dependence of Electrical Conductivity
description	Identical hard spheres in cylindrical confinement exhibit a rich variety of densest-packed columnar structures. Such structures, which generally vary with the corresponding cylinder-to-sphere diameter ratio D, serve as structural models for a variety of experimental systems at the micro- or nano-scale. In this research, the electrical conductivity as a function of D has been studied for four different types of such columnar structures. It was found that, for increasing D, the electrical conductivity of each type of structures decreases monotonously, as a result of the system’s resistive components becoming more densely packed along the long axis of the cylindrical space. However, there exists a discontinuous rise in the system’s electrical conductivity at D=1+3/2 (discontinuous zigzag-to-single-helix transition) and D = 2 (discontinuous double-helix-to-double-helix transition), respectively, as a result of the establishment of additional conducting paths upon an abrupt increase in the number of inter-particle contacts. This is not the case for the continuous single-helix-to-double-helix transition at D=1+43/7. The results, which tell us how the system’s electrical conductivity can be tuned through a variation of D, could serve as a guide for the development of quasi-one-dimensional materials with a structurally tunable electrical conductivity.
format	article
author	Panpan Ma Ho-Kei Chan
author_facet	Panpan Ma Ho-Kei Chan
author_sort	Panpan Ma
title	Densest-Packed Columnar Structures of Hard Spheres: An Investigation of the Structural Dependence of Electrical Conductivity
title_short	Densest-Packed Columnar Structures of Hard Spheres: An Investigation of the Structural Dependence of Electrical Conductivity
title_full	Densest-Packed Columnar Structures of Hard Spheres: An Investigation of the Structural Dependence of Electrical Conductivity
title_fullStr	Densest-Packed Columnar Structures of Hard Spheres: An Investigation of the Structural Dependence of Electrical Conductivity
title_full_unstemmed	Densest-Packed Columnar Structures of Hard Spheres: An Investigation of the Structural Dependence of Electrical Conductivity
title_sort	densest-packed columnar structures of hard spheres: an investigation of the structural dependence of electrical conductivity
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/254e9042b8a04ad2b815208bac558221
work_keys_str_mv	AT panpanma densestpackedcolumnarstructuresofhardspheresaninvestigationofthestructuraldependenceofelectricalconductivity AT hokeichan densestpackedcolumnarstructuresofhardspheresaninvestigationofthestructuraldependenceofelectricalconductivity
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Densest-Packed Columnar Structures of Hard Spheres: An Investigation of the Structural Dependence of Electrical Conductivity

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