Spreading of Nanoparticles on a Substrate

Using combination of the molecular dynamics simulations and theoretical analysis we have studied the deformation of crosslinked polymeric nanoparticles on solid substrate. Our simulations show that the deformation of the adsorbed nanoparticles is a function of the dimensionless parameter GR/W, where G is the particle shear modulus, R particle size and W is the work of adhesion. For small particle deformations, which is usually the case for the highly crosslinked nanoparticles, the particle deformation can be described in the framework of the classical Johnson, Kendall, and Roberts (JKR) theory. However, we observed a deviation from the classical JKR theory in the case of the weakly crosslinked nanoparticles which experience large deformations upon particle adsorption. We propose a theoretical model which accounts for large particle deformations.