Relaxation dynamics of functionalized colloids on attractive substrates

Abstract: Particle-based simulations are performed to study the post-relaxation dynamics of functionalized (patchy) colloids adsorbed on an attractive substrate. Kinetically arrested structures that depend on the number of adsorbed particles and the strength of the particle-particle and particle-substrate interactions are identified. The radial distribution function is characterized by a sequence of peaks, with relative intensities that depend on the number of adsorbed particles. The first-layer coverage is a non-monotonic function of the number of particles, with an optimal value around one layer of adsorbed particles. The initial relaxation towards these structures is characterized by a fast (exponential) and a slow (power-law) dynamics. The fast relaxation timescale is a linearly increasing function of the number of adsorbed particles in the submonolayer regime, but it saturates for more than one adsorbed layer. The slow dynamics exhibits two characteristic exponents, depending on the surface coverage.