2026 Undergraduate Research Showcase

Making Simulation Accessible; Looking Into Entropy Driven Aggregation of Plates/Flakes in a Colloid Solution

Document Type

Student Presentation

Presentation Date

4-24-2026

Faculty Sponsor

Dr. Eric Jankowski

Abstract

Computer simulation can reveal how material structure that is otherwise difficult to observe influences properties of a system. Here we consider two simulation questions in parallel: (1) What minimal models are sufficient for observing entropy-driven aggregation in printed inks comprising flakes and polymers? (2) Are there practices that make learning such simulations more accessible to new trainees? We report on coarse-grained models of polymers and flakes and a small subset of observations where flake aggregation is observed. We read literature, participate in programming and version control tutorials, and work individually and in groups on shared simulation tasks like calculating polymer radius of gyration. We find that reading literature provides some of the best opportunity for learning the fundamentals behind the simulations. We describe future potential improvements including simplified polymer representations and deploying simulations on supercomputers.

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