Silicon remains the most important material for electronic technology. Presently, some efforts are focused on the use of Si nanoparticles—not only for saving material, but also for improving the efficiency of optical and electronic devices, for instance, in the case of solar cells coated with a film of Si nanoparticles. The synthesis by a bottom-up approach based on condensation from low temper...

To study the initial chemical events related to the detonation of triacetonetriperoxide (TATP), we have performed a series of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. In these simulations we used the ReaxFF reactive force field, which we have extended to reproduce the quantum mechanics (QM)-derived relative energies of the reactants, products, intermediates, and transition states related to the TAT...

Pyrolysis of phenolic resins leads to carbon formation. Simulating this resin-to-carbon process atomistically is a daunting task. In this paper, we attempt to model the initial stage of this process by using the ReaxFF reactive force field, which bridges quantum mechanical and molecular mechanical methods. We run molecular dynamics simulations to examine the evolution of small molecules at diff...

Motivated by the problem of optimization force-field systems in physics using large-scale computer simulations, we consider exploration a deterministic complex multivariate response surface. The objective is to find input combinations that generate output close some desired or “target” vector. Despite reducing space with respect 1-D loss function, search nontrivial and challenging due infeasibl...

High temperatures caused by partial discharge results in the decomposition of insulating epoxy resins in electrical equipment. In this paper, the ReaxFF force field is used to investigate the decomposition process of epoxy resins cured by anhydride and the formation mechanisms of small-molecule gases. Results show that the initiation reaction is the cleavage of an ester bond linked with an epox...

A broad class of important materials, such as carbon molecular sieves, silicon carbide (SiC), and silicon nitride, are fabricated by temperature-controlled pyrolysis of preceramic polymers. In particular, the fabrication of SiC membranes by pyrolysis of a polymer precursor that contains Si is quite attractive for separation of hydrogen from other gases. It has been quite difficult to extract at...

To gain an atomistic-level understanding of the experimental observation that the cocrystal TNT/CL-20 leads to decreased sensitivity, we carried out reactive molecular dynamics (RMD) simulations using the ReaxFF reactive force field. We compared the thermal decomposition of the TNT/CL-20 cocrystal with that of pure crystals of TNT and CL-20 and with a simple physical mixture of TNT and CL-20. W...

Progress has recently been made in developing reactive force fields to describe chemical reactions in systems too large for quantum mechanical (QM) methods. In particular, ReaxFF, a force field with parameters that are obtained solely from fitting QM reaction data, has been used to predict structures and properties of many materials. Important applications require, however, determination of the...

The thermal decomposition mechanism of n-hexane is investigated by using density functional theory and ReaxFF force field. initial reactions, the effect temperature on first-order kinetics are analyzed. results show that C-C bonds in molecule more easily decomposed than C-H bonds, breakage C3-C4 bond main reaction. products H 2 , CH 4 C 6 3 . rate accelerated temperature. apparent activation en...