Atomistic Simulation of Compression Wave Propagation in Nanoporous Materials

We have developed a method to simulate behavior of nanoporous materials in a molecular dynamics code. The nanoporous solid is produced via a spinodal decomposition of a material brought from a supercritical fluid into the two phase (liquid-vapor) region and then quenching and freezing the liquid into an interconnected nanoporous solid. We have simulated, at the atomic level, compression in crystal/nanoporous configurations, demonstrating that this is a powerful technique for studying the equation-of-state of cold and warm dense matter. By performing compression simulations relevant to high energy density physics experiments, we have been able to elucidate experimental measurement by identifying governing microscopic mechanisms.