title: Crossover in growth laws for phase-separating binary fluids: molecular dynamics simulations.
abstract: Pattern and dynamics during phase separation in a symmetrical binary (A+B) Lennard-Jones fluid are studied via molecular dynamics simulations after quenching homogeneously mixed critical (50:50) systems to temperatures below the critical one. The morphology of the domains, rich in A or B particles, is observed to be bicontinuous. The early-time growth of the average domain size is found to be consistent with the Lifshitz-Slyozov law for diffusive domain coarsening. After a characteristic time, dependent on the temperature, we find a clear crossover to an extended viscous hydrodynamic regime where the domains grow linearly with time. Pattern formation in the present system is compared with that in solid binary mixtures, as a function of temperature. Important results for the finite-size and temperature effects on the small-wave-vector behavior of the scattering function are also presented.
authors.affiliation: Theoretical Sciences Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur Post Office, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Shaista
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.forename: Subir K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Das
authors.forename: Sanjay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Puri
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D004058:Diffusion; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D044367:Phase Transition; D012212:Rheology / Q000379:methods*; D012996:Solutions / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D012996:Solutions