Hello,
 
I want to start an MD simulation of a silica particle of size 5-10 nm
 in
 aequous solution, possibly also with a few Na+ ions floating around. I
 have a sample PDB file containing the structure of a silica
 nanoparticle,
 and have tried to make a box containing the nanoparticle and some water
 molecules using the 'genbox' utility program of GROMACS.
 
 
The problem arises when defining the parameters which determine how
 the
 atoms will interact. Does anyone have a good set of general parameters
 for
 such a system ? I am aware of the the work of Wensink and Hoffmann
 [Langmuir 16, 7392 (2000)], but their scheme relies on a partitioning
 of
 the system into crystal, surface and water atoms and I do not know how
 such a partitioning could be done in my case so as to best use their
 parameterization.
 
 
I'm not 100% tied to using GROMACS (any freely available and capable
 MD
 code will do for some initial investigations). I would be grateful for
 any
 advice on alternatives.
 
 
My investigations are intended to look into the behaviour in solution
 of
 silica nanoparticles formed by polymerization in solutions of sodium
 silicates, including nucleation, growth, formation of charged
 nanoparticles (and consequently double layers) and the effect of
 solution
 pH on this process and the detailed effects on nanoparticle surface
 charge
 density. The list above is long, I realize, but I would very much
 appreciate some pointers on how to get started quickly into these
 investigations.
 
 Many thanks in advance,
 Steve Kirk
 -= This is automatically added to each message by the mailing script =-
 
To send e-mail to subscribers of CCL put the string CCL: on your
 Subject:
 line
 
 and send your message to:  CHEMISTRY^at^ccl.net
 
Send your subscription/unsubscription requests to:
 CHEMISTRY-REQUEST^at^ccl.net
 
 HOME Page: http://www.ccl.net
 | Jobs Page: http://www.ccl.net/jobs
 If your is mail bouncing from ccl.net domain due to spam filters, please
 use the Web based form from CCL Home Page
 -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+