Schonhofer, PhilippMarechal, MatthieuCleaver, DouglasSchroeder-Turk, Gerd2022-07-212022-07-211089-7690http://hdl.handle.net/1885/269861We consider depletion effects of a pear-shaped colloidal particle in a hard-sphere solvent for two different model realizations of the pear-shaped colloidal particle. The two models are the pear hard Gaussian overlap (PHGO) particles and the hard pears of revolution (HPR). The motivation for this study is to provide a microscopic understanding for the substantially different mesoscopic self-assembly properties of these pear-shaped colloids, in dense suspensions, that have been reported in the previous studies. This is done by determining their differing depletion attractions via Monte Carlo simulations of PHGO and HPR particles in a pool of hard spheres and comparing them with excluded volume calculations of numerically obtained ideal configurations on the microscopic level. While the HPR model behaves as predicted by the analysis of excluded volumes, the PHGO model showcases a preference for splay between neighboring particles, which can be attributed to the special non-additive characteristics of the PHGO contact function. Lastly, we propose a potentially experimentally realizable pear-shaped particle model, the non-additive hard pear of revolution model, which is based on the HPR model but also features non-additive traits similar to those of PHGO particles to mimic their depletion behavior.The authors thank Universities Australia and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for funds through a collaboration funding scheme, through the grant “Absorption and confinement of complex fluids.” They also thank the DFG through Grant No. ME1361/11-2 and through the research group “Geometry and Physics of Spatial Random Systems” (GPSRS) for funding. They gratefully acknowledge Klaus Mecke’s support and advice in useful discussions. P.W.A.S. acknowledges a Murdoch University Postgraduate Research Scholarship. G.E.S.-T. is grateful to the Food Science Department at the University of Copenhagen and the Physical Chemistry group at Lund University for their hospitality and to Copenhagen University, the Camurus Lipid Research Foundation, and the Danish National Bank for enabling a sabbatical stay in Denmark and Sweden.application/pdfen-AU© 2020 Author(s).202010.1063/5.00072872021-08-01