Structural properties of dendrimer-colloid mixtures.

We consider binary mixtures of colloidal particles and amphiphilic dendrimers of the second generation by means of Monte Carlo simulations. By using the effective interactions between monomer-resolved dendrimers and colloids, we compare the results of simulations of mixtures stemming from a full monomer-resolved description with the effective two-component description at different densities, composition ratios, colloid diameters and interaction strengths. Additionally, we map the two-component system onto an effective one-component model for the colloids in the presence of the dendrimers. Simulations based on the resulting depletion potentials allow us to extend the comparison to yet another level of coarse graining and to examine under which conditions this two-step approach is valid. In addition, a preliminary outlook into the phase behavior of this system is given.