Abstract
Using Monte Carlo simulations, we investigate the structural characteristics of an interacting hard sphere system with shifted charge. The focus is placed on understanding the dependence of its phase behavior on charge asymmetry. Two different phase transitions are discovered for this model system. Upon increasing the volume fraction, a liquid-to-crystal transition first occurs at a significantly lower volume fraction in comparison to that of the centro-charged system. This is due to the stronger effective inter-particle repulsion caused by the additional charge anisotropy. Moreover, within the crystal state at higher volume fraction, the system further undergoes a disorder-to-order transition with respect to the charge orientation. The dependence of crystal formation and orientational ordering on charge asymmetry and temperature was also examined. These model studies are essential to advance our future understanding regarding the fundamental physiochemical properties of novel Janus colloidal particles and protein crystallization conditions.
