# Publications

### Adaptive enhanced sampling by force-biasing using neural networks

Ashley Z. Guo, Emre Sevgen, Hythem Sidky, Jonathan K. Whitmer, Jeffrey A. Hubbell, and Juan J. de Pablo

J. Chem. Phys. 148, 134108 (2018)

A machine learning assisted method is presented for molecular simulation of systems with rugged free energy landscapes. The method is general and can be combined with other advanced sampling techniques. In the particular implementation proposed here, it is illustrated in the context of an adaptive biasing force approach where, rather than relying on discrete force estimates, one can resort to a self-regularizing artificial neural network to generate continuous, estimated generalized forces. By doing so, the proposed approach addresses several shortcomings common to adaptive biasing force and other algorithms. Specifically, the neural network enables (1) smooth estimates of generalized forces in sparsely sampled regions, (2) force estimates in previously unexplored regions, and (3) continuous force estimates with which to bias the simulation, as opposed to biases generated at specific points of a discrete grid. The usefulness of the method is illustrated with three different examples, chosen to highlight the wide range of applicability of the underlying concepts. In all three cases, the new method is found to enhance considerably the underlying traditional adaptive biasing force approach. The method is also found to provide improvements over previous implementations of neural network assisted algorithms.

Bozhi Tian, Shuai Xu, John A Rogers, Stefano Cestellos-Blanco, Peidong Yang, João L Carvalho-de-Souza, Francisco Bezanilla, Jia Liu, Zhenan Bao, Martin Hjort, Yuhong Cao, Nicholas Melosh, Guglielmo Lanzani, Fabio Benfenati, Giulia Galli, Francois Gygi, Rylan Kautz, Alon A Gorodetsky, Samuel S Kim, Timothy K Lu, Polina Anikeeva, Michal Cifra, Ondrej Krivosudský, Daniel Havelka, and Yuanwen Jiang

Phys. Biol. 15, 031002 (2018)

This roadmap outlines the role semiconductor-based materials play in understanding the complex biophysical dynamics at multiple length scales, as well as the design and implementation of next-generation electronic, optoelectronic, and mechanical devices for biointerfaces. The roadmap emphasizes the advantages of semiconductor building blocks in interfacing, monitoring, and manipulating the activity of biological components, and discusses the possibility of using active semiconductor–cell interfaces for discovering new signaling processes in the biological world.

### Equilibration and analysis of first-principles molecular dynamics simulations of water

William Dawson, Francois Gygi

J. Chem. Phys. 148, 124501 (2018)

First-principles molecular dynamics (FPMD) simulations based on density functional theory are becoming increasingly popular for the description of liquids. In view of the high computational cost of these simulations, the choice of an appropriate equilibration protocol is critical. We assess two methods of estimation of equilibration times using a large dataset of first-principles molecular dynamics simulations of water. The Gelman-Rubin potential scale reduction factor [A. Gelman and D. B. Rubin, Stat. Sci. 7, 457 (1992)] and the marginal standard error rule heuristic proposed by White [Simulation 69, 323 (1997)] are evaluated on a set of 32 independent 64-molecule simulations of 58 ps each, amounting to a combined cumulative time of 1.85 ns. The availability of multiple independent simulations also allows for an estimation of the variance of averaged quantities, both within MD runs and between runs. We analyze atomic trajectories, focusing on correlations of the Kohn-Sham energy, pair correlation functions, number of hydrogen bonds, and diffusion coefficient. The observed variability across samples provides a measure of the uncertainty associated with these quantities, thus facilitating meaningful comparisons of different approximations used in the simulations. We find that the computed diffusion coefficient and average number of hydrogen bonds are affected by a significant uncertainty in spite of the large size of the dataset used. A comparison with classical simulations using the TIP4P/2005 model confirms that the variability of the diffusivity is also observed after long equilibration times. Complete atomic trajectories and simulation output files are available online for further analysis.

### Learning free energy landscapes using artificial neural networks

Hythem Sidky, Jonathan Whitmer

J. Chem. Phys. 148, 104111 (2018)

Existing adaptive bias techniques, which seek to estimate free energies and physical properties from molecular simulations, are limited by their reliance on fixed kernels or basis sets which hinder their ability to efficiently conform to varied free energy landscapes. Further, user-specified parameters are in general non-intuitive yet significantly affect the convergence rate and accuracy of the free energy estimate. Here we propose a novel method, wherein artificial neural networks (ANNs) are used to develop an adaptive biasing potential which learns free energy landscapes. We demonstrate that this method is capable of rapidly adapting to complex free energy landscapes and is not prone to boundary or oscillation problems. The method is made robust to hyperparameters and overfitting through Bayesian regularization which penalizes network weights and auto-regulates the number of effective parameters in the network. ANN sampling represents a promising innovative approach which can resolve complex free energy landscapes in less time than conventional approaches while requiring minimal user input.

### Simple data and workflow management with the Signac framework

Carl S. Adorf, Paul M. Dodd, Vyas Ramasubramani, Sharon C. Glotzer

Comp. Mater. Sci. 146, 220-229 (2018)

Researchers in the fields of materials science, chemistry, and computational physics are regularly posed with the challenge of managing large and heterogeneous data spaces. The amount of data increases in lockstep with computational efficiency multiplied by the amount of available computational resources, which shifts the bottleneck in the scientific process from data acquisition to data processing and analysis. We present a framework designed to aid in the integration of various specialized data formats, tools and workflows. The signac framework provides all basic components required to create a well-defined and thus collectively accessible and searchable data space, simplifying data access and modification through a homogeneous data interface that is largely agnostic to the data source, i.e., computation or experiment. The framework’s data model is designed to not require absolute commitment to the presented implementation, simplifying adaption into existing data sets and workflows. This approach not only increases the efficiency with which scientific results can be produced, but also significantly lowers barriers for collaborations requiring shared data access.

### GW100: Comparison of Methods and Accuracy of Results Obtained with the WEST Code

Marco Govoni and Giulia Galli

J. Chem. Theory Comput. 14, 1895–1909 (2018)

The reproducibility of calculations carried out within many-body perturbation the- ory at the G0W0 level is assessed for 100 closed shell molecules and compared to that of density functional theory. We consider vertical ionization potentials (VIP) and electron affinities (VEA) obtained with five different codes: BerkeleyGW, FHI-aims, TURBOMOLE, VASP, and WEST. We review the approximations and parameters that control the accuracy of G0W0 results in each code and we discuss in detail the effect of extrapolation techniques for the parameters entering the WEST code. Differences between the VIP and VEA computed with the various codes are within ∼ 60 meV and ∼ 120 meV respectively, which is up to four times larger than in the case of the best results obtained with DFT codes. Vertical ionization potentials are validated against experiment and CCSD(T) quantum chemistry results showing a mean absolute relative error of ∼ 4% for data obtained with WEST. Our analysis of the differences between localized orbitals and plane-wave implementations points out at molecules containing Cu, I, Ga, and Xe as major sources of discrepancies, which call for a re-evaluation of the pseudopotentials used for these systems in G0W0 calculations.

### Weak Polyelectrolyte Complexation Driven by Associative Charging

Vikramjit S. Rathee, Aristotle J. Zervoudakis, Hythem Sidky, Benjamin J. Sikora and Jonathan K. Whitmer

J. Chem. Phys. 148, 114901 (2018)

Weak polyelectrolytes are relevant for a wide range of fields; in particular, they are useful in the creation of “smart” materials for chemical separations and drug delivery. The charges on weak polyelectrolytes are dynamic and sensitive to the surroundings, causing polymer chains to adopt environmentally-responsive conformations. Currently, there exists no comprehensive picture of this behavior, particularly where polymer–polymer interactions have the potential to affect charging properties significantly. In this study, we elucidate the novel interplay between weak polyelectrolyte charging and complexation behavior through coupled molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations. Specifically, we investigate a model of two equal-length and oppositely charging polymer chains in implicit salt solution represented through Debye–Hückel interactions. The charging tendency of each chain, along with the salt concentration, are varied to determine the existence and extent of cooperativity in charging and complexation. Strong cooperation in the charging of these chains is observed at large Debye lengths, corresponding to low salt concentrations, while at lower Debye lengths (higher salt concentrations), the chains behave in apparent isolation. When the electrostatic coupling is long-ranged, we find that a highly charged chain strongly promotes the charging of its partner chain, even if the environment is unfavorable for an isolated version of that partner chain. Evidence of this phenomenon is supported by a drop in the potential energy of the system, which does not occur at the lower Debye lengths where both potential energies and charge fractions converge for all partner chain charging tendencies. The discovery of this cooperation will be helpful in developing “smart” drug delivery mechanisms by allowing for better predictions for the dissociation point of delivery complexes.

### In silico measurement of elastic moduli of nematic liquid crystals

Hythem Sidky, Juan J. de Pablo, and Jonathan K. Whitmer

Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 107801 (2018)

Experiments on confined droplets of the nematic liquid crystal 5CB have questioned long- established bounds imposed on the elastic free energy of nematic systems. This elasticity, which derives from molecular alignment within nematic systems, is quantified through a set of moduli which can be difficult to measure experimentally and, in some cases, can only be probed indirectly. This is particularly true of the surface-like saddle-splay elastic term, for which the available ex- perimental data indicate values on the cusp of stability, often with large uncertainties. Here, we demonstrate that all nematic elastic moduli, including the saddle-splay elastic constant k24, may be calculated directly from atomistic molecular simulation. Importantly, results obtained through in silico measurements of the 5CB elastic properties demonstrate unambiguously that saddle-splay elasticity alone is unable to describe the observed confined morphologies.

### Electron affinity of liquid water

Alex Gaiduk, T. Anh Pham, Marco Govoni, Francesco Paesani and Giulia Galli

Natur. Commun. 9, 237 (2018)

Understanding redox and photochemical reactions in aqueous environments requires a precise knowledge of the ionization potential and electron affinity of liquid water. The former has been measured, but not the latter. We predict the electron affinity of liquid water and of its surface from first principles, coupling path-integral molecular dynamics with ab initio potentials, and many-body perturbation theory. Our results for the surface (0.8 eV) agree well with recent pump-probe spectroscopy measurements on amorphous ice. Those for the bulk (0.1–0.3 eV) differ from several estimates adopted in the literature, which we critically revisit. We show that the ionization potential of the bulk and surface are almost identical; instead their electron affinities differ substantially, with the conduction band edge of the surface much deeper in energy than that of the bulk. We also discuss the significant impact of nuclear quantum effects on the fundamental gap and band edges of the liquid.

### Charge Transport and Phase Behavior of Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquid Crystals from Fully Atomistic Simulations

Michael Quevillon and Jonathan K. Whitmer

Materials 11, 64 (2018)

Ionic liquid crystals occupy an intriguing middle ground between room-temperature ionic liquids and mesostructured liquid crystals. Here, we examine a non-polarizable, fully atomistic model of the 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium nitrate family using molecular dynamics in the constant pressure–constant temperature ensemble. These materials exhibit a distinct “smectic” liquid phase, characterized by layers formed by the molecules, which separate the ionic and aliphatic moieties. In particular, we discuss the implications this layering may have for electrolyte applications.

### Simulating the Thermodynamics of Charging in Weak Polyelectrolytes: The Debye Hückel Limit

Vikramjit S. Rathee, Benjamin J. Sikora, Hythem Sidky and Jonathan K. Whitmer

Materials Research Express 5, 014010 (2018)

The coil–globule transition in weak (annealed) polyelectrolytes involves a subtle balance of pH, charge strength, and solvation forces. In this work, we utilize a coarse-grained hybrid grand-canonical Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics approach to explore the swelling behavior of weak linear and star polyelectrolytes under different ionic screening conditions and pH. Importantly, we are able to quantify topology-dependent effects in charging which arise at the core of star polymers. Our results are suggestive of suppression of charging in star weak polyelectrolytes in comparison to linear weak polyelectrolytes. Furthermore, we characterize the coil–globule transition in linear and star weak polyelectrolyte through expanded ensemble density-of-states simulations which suggest a change from a first order to second order phase transition moving from linear to star polyelectrolytes. Lastly, we characterize the inhomogeneous charging across the weak star polyelectrolyte through observed shifts in ${\rm{\Delta }}{{\rm{pK}}}_{{\rm{o}}},$ and compare with experimental work. We discuss these results in relation to surfaces functionalized by weak polyelectrolyte brushes and weak polyelectrolyte-based drug delivery applications

### SSAGES: Software Suite for Advanced General Ensemble Simulations

Hythem Sidky, Yamil J. Colon, Julian Helfferich, Benjamin J. Sikora, Cody Bezik, Weiwei Chu, Federico Giberti, Ashley Z. Guo, Xikai Jiang, Joshua Lequieu, Jiyuan Li, Joshua Moller, Michael J. Quevillon, Mohammad Rahimi, Hadi Ramezani-Dakhel, Vikramjit S. Rathee, Daniel R. Reid, Emre Sevgen, Vikram Thapar, Michael A. Webb, Jonathan K. Whitmer, and Juan J. de Pablo

J. Chem. Phys. 148, 044104 (2018)

Molecular simulation has emerged as an essential tool for modern-day research, but obtaining proper results and making reliable conclusions from simulations requires adequate sampling of the system under consideration. To this end, a variety of methods exist in the literature that can enhance sampling considerably, and increasingly sophisticated, effective algorithms continue to be developed at a rapid pace. Implementation of these techniques, however, can be challenging for experts and non-experts alike. There is a clear need for software that provides rapid, reliable, and easy access to a wide range of advanced sampling methods and that facilitates implementation of new techniques as they emerge. Here we present SSAGES, a publicly available Software Suite for Advanced General Ensemble Simulations designed to interface with multiple widely used molecular dynamics simulations packages. SSAGES allows facile application of a variety of enhanced sampling techniques—including adaptive biasing force, string methods, and forward flux sampling—that extract meaningful free energy and transition path data from all-atom and coarse-grained simulations. A noteworthy feature of SSAGES is a user-friendly framework that facilitates further development and implementation of new methods and collective variables. In this work, the use of SSAGES is illustrated in the context of simple representative applications involving distinct methods and different collective variables that are available in the current release of the suite. The code may be found at: https://github.com/MICCoM/SSAGES-public.

### Electrostatic confinement and manipulation of DNA molecules for genome analysis

Kristy L. Kounovsky-Shafer, Juan P. Hernandez-Ortiz, Konstantinos Potamousis, Gene Tsvid, Michael Place, Prabu Ravindran, Kyubong Jo, Shiguo Zhou, Theo Odijk, Juan J. de Pablo and David C. Schwartz

PNAS 114, 13400-13405 (2017)

Very large DNA molecules enable comprehensive analysis of complex genomes, such as human, cancer, and plants because they span across sequence repeats and complex somatic events. When physically manipulated, or analyzed as single molecules, long polyelectrolytes are problematic because of mechanical considerations that include shear-mediated breakage, dealing with the massive size of these coils, or the length of stretched DNAs using common experimental techniques and fluidic devices. Accordingly, we harness analyte “issues” as exploitable advantages by our invention and characterization of the “molecular gate,” which controls and synchronizes formation of stretched DNA molecules as DNA dumbbells within nanoslit geometries. Molecular gate geometries comprise micro- and nanoscale features designed to synergize very low ionic strength conditions in ways we show effectively create an “electrostatic bottle.” This effect greatly enhances molecular confinement within large slit geometries and supports facile, synchronized electrokinetic loading of nanoslits, even without dumbbell formation. Device geometries were considered at the molecular and continuum scales through computer simulations, which also guided our efforts to optimize design and functionalities. In addition, we show that the molecular gate may govern DNA separations because DNA molecules can be electrokinetically triggered, by varying applied voltage, to enter slits in a size-dependent manner. Lastly, mapping the Mesoplasma florum genome, via synchronized dumbbell formation, validates our nascent approach as a viable starting point for advanced development that will build an integrated system capable of large-scale genome analysis.

### Orbitals for classical arbitrary anisotropic colloidal potentials

Martin Girard, Trung Dac Nguyen, and Monica Olvera de la Cruz

Phys. Rev. E 96, 053309 (2017)

Coarse-grained potentials are ubiquitous in mesoscale simulations. While various methods to compute effective interactions for spherically symmetric particles exist, anisotropic interactions are seldom used, due to their complexity. Here we describe a general formulation, based on a spatial decomposition of the density fields around the particles, akin to atomic orbitals. We show that anisotropic potentials can be efficiently computed in numerical simulations using Fourier-based methods. We validate the field formulation and characterize its computational efficiency with a system of colloids that have Gaussian surface charge distributions. We also investigate the phase behavior of charged Janus colloids immersed in screened media, with screening lengths comparable to the colloid size. The system shows rich behaviors, exhibiting vapor, liquid, gel, and crystalline morphologies, depending on temperature and screening length. The crystalline phase only appears for symmetric Janus particles. For very short screening lengths, the system undergoes a direct transition from a vapor to a crystal on cooling; while, for longer screening lengths, a vapor-liquid-crystal transition is observed. The proposed formulation can be extended to model force fields that are time or orientation dependent, such as those in systems of polymer-grafted particles and magnetic colloids.

### First-principles simulations of heat transport

Marcello Puligheddu, Francois Gygi, and Giulia Galli

Phys. Rev. Materials 1, 060802(R) (2017)

Advances in understanding heat transport in solids were recently reported by both experiment and theory. However an efficient and predictive quantum simulation framework to investigate thermal properties of solids, with the same complexity as classical simulations, has not yet been developed. Here we present a method to compute the thermal conductivity of solids by performing ab initio molecular dynamics at close to equilibrium conditions, which only requires calculations of first-principles trajectories and atomic forces, thus avoiding direct computation of heat currents and energy densities. In addition the method requires much shorter sequential simulation times than ordinary molecular dynamics techniques, making it applicable within density functional theory. We discuss results for a representative oxide, MgO, at different temperatures and for ordered and nanostructured morphologies, showing the performance of the method in different conditions.

### Strong Attractions and Repulsions Mediated by Monovalent Salts

Yaohua Li, Martin Girard, Meng Shen, Jaime Andres Millan, and Monica Olvera de la Cruz

PNAS 114, 11838 (2017)

Controlling interactions between proteins and nanoparticles in electrolyte solutions is crucial for advancing biological sciences and biotechnology. The assembly of charged nanoparticles (NPs) and proteins in aqueous solutions can be directed by modifying the salt concentration. High concentrations of monovalent salt can induce the solubilization or crystallization of NPs and proteins. By using a multiscale coarse-grained molecular dynamics approach, we show that, due to ionic correlations in the electrolyte, NPs pairs at high monovalent salt concentrations interact via remarkably strong long-range attractions or repulsions, which can be split into three regimes depending on the surface charge densities of the NPs. NPs with zero-to-low surface charge densities interact via a long-range attraction that is stronger and has a similar range to the depletion attraction induced by polymers with radius of gyrations comparable to the NP diameter. On the other hand, moderately charged NPs with smooth surfaces as well as DNA-functionalized NPs with no possibility of hybridization between them interact via a strong repulsion of range and strength larger than the repulsion predicted by models that neglect ionic correlations, including the Derjaguin–Landau–Vervey–Overbeek (DLVO) model. Interactions between strongly charged NPs (>2 e/nm2), both types smooth and DNA-functionalized NPs, show an attractive potential well at intermediate-to-high salt concentrations, which demonstrates that electrolytes can induce aggregation of strongly charged NPs. Our work provides an improved understanding of the role of ionic correlations in NP assembly and design rules to utilize the salting-out process to crystallize NPs.

### In silico evidence for sequence-dependent nucleosome sliding

Joshua Lequieu, David C. Schwartz and Juan J. de Pablo

PNAS 114, E9197 (2017)

Nucleosomes represent the basic building block of chromatin and provide an important mechanism by which cellular processes are controlled. The locations of nucleosomes across the genome are not random but instead depend on both the underlying DNA sequence and the dynamic action of other proteins within the nucleus. These processes are central to cellular function, and the molecular details of the interplay between DNA sequence and nucleosome dynamics remain poorly understood. In this work, we investigate this interplay in detail by relying on a molecular model, which permits development of a comprehensive picture of the underlying free energy surfaces and the corresponding dynamics of nucleosome repositioning. The mechanism of nucleosome repositioning is shown to be strongly linked to DNA sequence and directly related to the binding energy of a given DNA sequence to the histone core. It is also demonstrated that chromatin remodelers can override DNA-sequence preferences by exerting torque, and the histone H4 tail is then identified as a key component by which DNA-sequence, histone modifications, and chromatin remodelers could in fact be coupled.

### Optimizing surface defects for atomic-scale electronics: Si dangling bonds

Peter Scherpelz and Giulia Galli

Phys. Rev. Materials 1, 021602(R) (2017)

Surface defects created and probed with scanning tunneling microscopes are a promising platform for 1 atomic-scale electronics and quantuminformation technology applications. Using first-principles calculations we demonstrate how to engineer dangling bond (DB) defects on hydrogenated Si(100) surfaces, which give rise to isolated impurity states that can be used in atomic-scale devices. In particular, we show that sample thickness and biaxial strain can serve as control parameters to design the electronic properties of DB defects. While in thick Si samples the neutral DB state is resonant with bulk valence bands, ultrathin samples (1–2 nm) lead to an isolated impurity state in the gap; similar behavior is seen for DB pairs and DB wires. Strain further isolates the DB from the valence band, with the response to strain heavily dependent on sample thickness. These findings suggest new methods for tuning the properties of defects on surfaces for electronic and quantum information applications. Finally, we present a consistent and unifying interpretation of many results presented in the literature for DB defects on hydrogenated silicon surfaces, rationalizing apparent discrepancies between different experiments and simulations.

### The Emergent Nematic Phase of Ionic Chromonic Liquid Crystals

Hythem Sidky and Jonathan K. Whitmer

J. Phys. Chem. B. 121, 6691-6698 (2017)

Chromonic liquid crystals exhibit a unique self-assembly process which is of both theoretical and practical interest. A characteristic feature of chromonics is the occurrence of molecular association through stacking at extremely low concentrations. Experimental evidence has suggested that this process is approximately isodesmic across a broad concentration range. Another important aspect of these phases is a separation of energy scales for elastic deformation that leads to novel bulk morphologies and defect arrangements. To date, only a handful of computational studies have managed to reproduce crucial aspects of chromonic phases, with ionic chromonics treated only by expensive fully atomistic simulations. Here, we present a simple model based on the competition between long-range repulsions and short-range anisotropic attractions capable of capturing all features of the chromonic phase. Molecular simulations of coarse-grained mesogens are used to map out the phase behavior and explore how structural and energetic anisotropies influence their ordering and response. This work presents the first computational investigation into the nematic elasticity of these phases and demonstrates key correlations between elastic response and stack growth.

### Parallel O(N) Stokes’ solver towards scalable Brownian dynamics of hydrodynamically interacting objects in general geometries

Xujun Zhao, Jiyuan Li, Xikai Jiang, Dmitry Karpeev, Olle Heinonen, Barry Smith, Juan P. Hernandez-Ortiz, and Juan J. de Pablo

J. Chem. Phys. 146, 244114 (2017)

An efficient parallel Stokes’s solver has been developed for complete description of hydrodynamic interactions between Brownian particles in bulk and confined geomteries. A Langevin description of the particle dynamics is adopted, where the long-range interactions are included using a Green’s function formalism. A scalable parallel computational approach is presented, where the general geometry Stokeslet is calculated following a matrix-free highly-efficient iterative finite-element Stokes’ solver for the accurate treatment of long-range hydrodynamic interactions in arbitrary confined geometries. A combination of mid-point time integration of the Brownian stochastic differential equation, the parallel Stokes’ solver, and a Chebyshev polynomial approximation for the fluctuation-dissipation theorem lead to an O(N) parallel algorithm. We illustrate the new algorithm in the context of the dynamics of confined polymer solutions under equilibrium and non-equilibrium conditions. The method is then extended to treat suspended finite size particles of arbitrary shape in any geometry using an Immersed Boundary approach.

### Performance and self-consistency of the generalized dielectric dependent hybrid functional

Nicholas P. Brawand, Marco Govoni, Márton Vörös, and Giulia Galli

J. Chem. Theory Comput. 13, 3318 (2017)

We analyze the performance of the recently proposed screened exchange constant functional (SX) (Phys. Rev. X 2016, 10, 642) on the GW100 test set, and we discuss results obtained at different levels of self-consistency. The SX functional is a generalization of dielectric dependent hybrid functionals to finite systems, it is non-empirical and depends on the average screening of the exchange interaction. We compare results for ionization potentials obtained with SX to those of CCSD(T) calculations and experiments and we find excellent agreement, on par with recent state of the art methods based on many body perturbation theory. Applying SX perturbatively to correct PBE eigenvalues yields improved results in most cases, except for ionic molecules, for which wave function self-consistency is instead crucial. Calculations where wave functions and the screened exchange constant (αSX) are determined self-consistently, and those where αSX is fixed to the value determined within PBE, yield results of comparable accuracy. Perturbative G0W0 corrections of eigenvalues obtained with self-consistent αSX are small on average, for all molecules in the GW100 test set.

### Surface polarization effects on ion-containing emulsions

Meng Shen, Honghao Li, and Monica Olvera de la Cruz

Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 138002 (2017)

### Electronic Structure of Aqueous Solutions: Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Experiments

Tuan Anh Pham, Marco Govoni, Robert Seidel, Stephen E. Bradforth, Eric Schwegler, and Giulia Galli

Science Advances 3 (6), 1603210 (2017)

Predicting the electronic properties of aqueous liquids has been a long-standing challenge for quantum mechanical methods. Yet it is a crucial step in understanding and predicting the key role played by aqueous solutions and electrolytes in a wide variety of emerging energy and environmental technologies, including battery and photoelectrochemical cell design. Here we propose an efficient and accurate approach to predict the electronic properties of aqueous solutions, based on the combination of firstprinciples methods and experimental validation using state-of-the-art spectroscopic measurements. We present results of the photoelectron spectra of a broad range of solvated ions, showing that firstprinciples molecular dynamics simulations and electronic structure calculations using dielectric hybrid functionals provide a quantitative description of the electronic properties of the solvent and solutes, including excitation energies. The proposed computational framework is general and applicable to other liquids, thereby offering great promise in understanding and engineering solutions and liquid electrolytes for a variety of important energy technologies.

### Charge Transport in Nanostructured Materials: Implementation and Verification of Constrained Density Functional Theory

Matthew Goldey, Nicholas Brawand, Márton Vörös, and Giulia Galli

J. Chem. Theory Comput., Article ASAP (2017)

The in silico design of novel complex materials for energy conversion requires accurate, ab initio simulation of charge transport. In this work, we present an implementation of constrained density functional theory (CDFT) for the calculation of parameters for charge transport in the hopping regime. We verify our implementation against literature results for molecular systems, and we discuss the dependence of results on numerical parameters and the choice of localization potentials. In addition, we compare CDFT results with those of other commonly used methods for simulating charge transport between nanoscale building blocks. We show that some of these methods give unphysical results for thermally disordered configurations, while CDFT proves to be a viable and robust approach.

### Influence of Vapor Deposition on Structural and Charge Transport Properties of Ethylbenzene Films

Lucas W. Antony, Nicholas E. Jackson, Ivan Lyubimov, Venkatram Vishwanath, Mark D. Ediger, and Juan J. de Pablo

ACS Central Science, Article ASAP (2017)

Organic glass films formed by physical vapor deposition exhibit enhanced stability relative to those formed by conventional liquid cooling and aging techniques. Recently, experimental and computational evidence has emerged indicating that the average molecular orientation can be tuned by controlling the substrate temperature at which these “stable glasses” are grown. In this work, we present a comprehensive all-atom simulation study of ethylbenzene, a canonical stable-glass former, using a computational film formation procedure that closely mimics the vapor deposition process. Atomistic studies of experimentally formed vapor-deposited glasses have not been performed before, and this study therefore begins by verifying that the model and method utilized here reproduces key structural features observed experimentally. Having established agreement between several simulated and experimental macroscopic observables, simulations are used to examine the substrate temperature dependence of molecular orientation. The results indicate that ethylbenzene glasses are anisotropic, depending upon substrate temperature, and that this dependence can be understood from the orientation present at the surface of the equilibrium liquid. By treating ethylbenzene as a simple model for molecular semiconducting materials, a quantum-chemical analysis is then used to show that the vapor-deposited glasses exhibit decreased energetic disorder and increased magnitude of the mean-squared transfer integral relative to isotropic, liquid-cooled films, an effect that is attributed to the anisotropic ordering of the molecular film. These results suggest a novel structure–function simulation strategy capable of tuning the electronic properties of organic semiconducting glasses prior to experimental deposition, which could have considerable potential for organic electronic materials design.

### Design of heterogeneous chalcogenide nanostructures with pressure-tunable gaps and without electronic trap states

Federico Giberti, Márton Vörös, and Giulia Galli

Nano Lett. 17 (4), pp 2547–2553 (2017)

Heterogeneous nanostructures, such as quantum dots (QDs) embedded in solid matrices or core–shell nanoparticles, are promising platforms for a wide variety of applications, including phosphors with increased quantum yield, photocatalysis, and solar energy conversion. However, characterizing and controlling their interfacial morphology and defects, which greatly influence their electronic properties, have proven difficult in numerous cases. Here we carried out atomistic calculations on chalcogenide nanostructured materials, i.e., PbSe QDs in CdSe matrices and CdSe embedded in PbSe, and we established how interfacial and core structures affect their electronic properties. In particular, we showed that defects present at interfaces of PbSe nanoparticles and CdSe matrices give rise to detrimental intragap states, degrading the performance of photovoltaic devices. Instead, the electronic gaps of the inverted system (CdSe dots in PbSe) are clean, indicating that this material has superior electronic properties for solar applications. In addition, our calculations predicted that the core structure of CdSe and in turn its band gap may be tuned by applying pressure to the PbSe matrix, providing a means to engineering the properties of new functional materials.

### Understanding Atomic-Scale Behavior of Liquid Crystals at Aqueous Interfaces

J. Chem. Theory Comput. 13 (1), pp 237–244 (2017)

The ordered environment presented by liquid crystals at interfaces enables a range of novel functionalities that is only now beginning to be exploited in applications ranging from light focusing devices to biosensors. One key feature of liquid crystals is that molecular events occurring at an interface propagate over large distances through the bulk. In spite of their importance, our fundamental understanding of liquid crystal–water and liquid crystal–air interfaces remains limited. In this work, we present results from large-scale atomistic molecular dynamics simulations on the organization of the nematic and isotropic phases of the nitrile-containing mesogenic molecule 4-cyano-4′-pentylbiphenyl (5CB) in the vicinity of vacuum and aqueous interfaces. Hybrid boundary conditions are imposed by confining 5CB films between vacuum and an aqueous medium to examine how those two types of interfaces influence the specific structural arrangement and ordering of 5CB. Consistent with experiments, our results indicate that 5CB exhibits homeotropic anchoring at the vacuum interface, and planar alignment at aqueous interfaces. Two-dimensional molecular dynamics potential of mean force calculations and average polarization densities show that the polar nitrile group of 5CB remains hydrated near the aqueous interface, where it modulates the orientation of water molecules. Estimates of the anchoring strength reveal an oscillatory decay and a semilinear decay with distance from the interface in vacuum and water, respectively.

### Molecular Structure of Canonical Liquid Crystal Interfaces

Monirosadat Sadati, Hadi Ramezani-Dakhel, Wei Bu, Emre Sevgen, Zhu Liang, Cem Erol, Mohammad Rahimi, Nader Taheri Qazvini, Binhua Lin, Nicholas L. Abbott, Benoı̂t Roux, Mark L. Schlossman, and Juan J. de Pablo

J. Am. Chem. Soc. 139 (10), pp 3841–3850 (2017)

Numerous applications of liquid crystals rely on control of molecular orientation at an interface. However, little is known about the precise molecular structure of such interfaces. In this work, synchrotron X-ray reflectivity measurements, accompanied by large-scale atomistic molecular dynamics simulations, are used for the first time to reconstruct the air-liquid crystal interface of a nematic material, namely, 4-pentyl-4′-cyanobiphenyl (5CB). The results are compared to those for 4-octyl-4′-cyanobiphenyl (8CB) which, in addition to adopting isotropic and nematic states, can also form a smectic phase. Our findings indicate that the air interface imprints a highly ordered structure into the material; such a local structure then propagates well into the bulk of the liquid crystal, particularly for nematic and smectic phases.

### Local and Global Effects of Dissolved Sodium Chloride on the Structure of Water

Alex P. Gaiduk and Giulia Galli

J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 8, pp 1496–1502 (2017)

Determining how the structure of water is modified by the presence of salts is instrumental to understanding the solvation of biomolecules and, in general, the role played by salts in biochemical processes. However, the extent of hydrogen bonding disruption induced by salts remains controversial. We performed extensive first-principles simulations of solutions of a simple salt (NaCl) and found that, while the cation does not significantly change the structure of water beyond the first solvation shell, the anion has a further reaching effect, modifying the hydrogen-bond network even outside its second solvation shell. We found that a distinctive fingerprint of hydrogen bonding modification is the change in polarizability of water molecules. Molecular dipole moments are instead insensitive probes of long-range modifications induced by Na+ and Cl ions. Though noticeable, the long-range effect of Cl is expected to be too weak to affect solubility of large biomolecules.

### Instability and Efficiency of Mixed Halide Perovskites CH3NH3AI3-xClx (A=Pb and Sn): a first principles, computational study

Yuping He and Giulia Galli

Chem. Mater. 29 (2), pp 682–689 (2017)

We carried out calculations based on density functional theory to investigate the electronic, vibrational, and dielectric properties of mixed halide perovskites CH3NH3 AI3–xClx with A = Pb and Sn. Computed free energies indicated that Cl mixed systems may be formed only for Cl concentrations not exceeding 1019 cm–3, and phonon calculations showed that the disorder induced in the host lattice by the presence of a smaller halogen is responsible for mechanical instabilities. However, we found that the presence of chloride may be beneficial to the electronic properties of the perovskites. Chloride anions cause the organic cations to be displaced from the center of the cage; such a displacement induces preferential orientations of the cation dipole, which in turn are responsible for notable changes in the dielectric properties of the material and possibly for the formation of local ferroelectric domains. The latter are instrumental in separating electron hole pairs and hence in contributing to long charge-carrier diffusion lengths, in spite of polarons being more likely formed in mixed perovksites than in CH3NH3 AI3.

### Age and Structure of a Model Vapor-Deposited Glass

Daniel Reid, Ivan Lyubimov, M. D. Ediger, and Juan J. de Pablo

Nat. Commun. 7, 13062 (2016)

Glass films prepared by a process of physical vapour deposition have been shown to have thermodynamic and kinetic stability comparable to those of ordinary glasses aged for thousands of years. A central question in the study of vapour-deposited glasses, particularly in light of new knowledge regarding anisotropy in these materials, is whether the ultra-stable glassy films formed by vapour deposition are ever equivalent to those obtained by liquid cooling. Here we present a computational study of vapour deposition for a two-dimensional glass forming liquid using a methodology, which closely mimics experiment. We find that for the model considered here, structures that arise in vapour-deposited materials are statistically identical to those observed in ordinary glasses, provided the two are compared at the same inherent structure energy. We also find that newly deposited hot molecules produce cascades of hot particles that propagate far into the film, possibly influencing the relaxation of the material.

### Generalization of Dielectric-Dependent Hybrid Functionals to Finite Systems

Nicholas P. Brawand, Márton Vörös, Marco Govoni, and Giulia Galli

Phys. Rev. X 6, 041002 (2016)

The accurate prediction of electronic and optical properties of molecules and solids is a persistent challenge for methods based on density functional theory. We propose a generalization of dielectric-dependent hybrid functionals to finite systems where the definition of the mixing fraction of exact and semilocal exchange is physically motivated, nonempirical, and system dependent. The proposed functional yields ionization potentials, and fundamental and optical gaps of many, diverse molecular systems in excellent agreement with experiments, including organic and inorganic molecules and semiconducting nanocrystals. We further demonstrate that this hybrid functional gives the correct alignment between energy levels of the exemplary TTF-TCNQ donor-acceptor system.

### Self-Assembly of Colloidal Nanocrystals: From Intricate Structures to Functional Materials

Michael A. Boles, Michael Engel, and Dmitri V. Talapin

Chem. Rev. 116 (18), pp 11220–11289 (2016)

Chemical methods developed over the past two decades enable preparation of colloidal nanocrystals with uniform size and shape. These Brownian objects readily order into superlattices. Recently, the range of accessible inorganic cores and tunable surface chemistries dramatically increased, expanding the set of nanocrystal arrangements experimentally attainable. In this review, we discuss efforts to create next-generation materials via bottom-up organization of nanocrystals with preprogrammed functionality and self-assembly instructions. This process is often driven by both interparticle interactions and the influence of the assembly environment. The introduction provides the reader with a practical overview of nanocrystal synthesis, self-assembly, and superlattice characterization. We then summarize the theory of nanocrystal interactions and examine fundamental principles governing nanocrystal self-assembly from hard and soft particle perspectives borrowed from the comparatively established fields of micrometer colloids and block copolymer assembly. We outline the extensive catalog of superlattices prepared to date using hydrocarbon-capped nanocrystals with spherical, polyhedral, rod, plate, and branched inorganic core shapes, as well as those obtained by mixing combinations thereof. We also provide an overview of structural defects in nanocrystal superlattices. We then explore the unique possibilities offered by leveraging nontraditional surface chemistries and assembly environments to control superlattice structure and produce nonbulk assemblies. We end with a discussion of the unique optical, magnetic, electronic, and catalytic properties of ordered nanocrystal superlattices, and the coming advances required to make use of this new class of solids.

### Intermolecular Structural Change for Thermoswitchable Polymeric Photosensitizer

Wooram Park, Sin-Jung Park, Soojeong Cho, Heejun Shin, Young-Seok Jung, Byeongdu Lee, Kun Na, and Dong-Hyun Kim

J. Am. Chem. Soc. 138 (34), pp 10734-10737 (2016)

We developed a thermoswitchable polymeric photosensitizer (T-PPS) by conjugating PS (Pheophorbide-a, PPb-a) to a temperature-responsive polymer backbone of biocompatible hydroxypropyl cellulose. Self-quenched PS molecules linked in close proximity by π–π stacking in T-PPS were easily transited to an active monomeric state by the temperature-induced phase transition of polymer backbones. The temperature-responsive intermolecular interaction changes of PS molecules in T-PPS were demonstrated in synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering and UV–vis spectrophotometer analysis. The T-PPS allowed switchable activation and synergistically enhanced cancer cell killing effect at the hyperthermia temperature (45 °C). Our developed T-PPS has the considerable potential not only as a new class of photomedicine in clinics but also as a biosensor based on temperature responsiveness.

### Mechanical Response of DNA–Nanoparticle Crystals to Controlled Deformation

Joshua Lequieu, Andrés Córdoba, Daniel Hinckley, and Juan J. de Pablo

ACS Cent. Sci. 2 (9), pp 614-620 (2016)

The self-assembly of DNA-conjugated nanoparticles represents a promising avenue toward the design of engineered hierarchical materials. By using DNA to encode nanoscale interactions, macroscale crystals can be formed with mechanical properties that can, at least in principle, be tuned. Here we present in silico evidence that the mechanical response of these assemblies can indeed be controlled, and that subtle modifications of the linking DNA sequences can change the Young’s modulus from 97 kPa to 2.1 MPa. We rely on a detailed molecular model to quantify the energetics of DNA–nanoparticle assembly and demonstrate that the mechanical response is governed by entropic, rather than enthalpic, contributions and that the response of the entire network can be estimated from the elastic properties of an individual nanoparticle. The results here provide a first step toward the mechanical characterization of DNA–nanoparticle assemblies, and suggest the possibility of mechanical metamaterials constructed using DNA.

### Tension-Dependent Free Energies of Nucleosome Unwrapping

Joshua Lequieu, Andrés Córdoba, David C. Schwartz, and Juan J. de Pablo

ACS Cent. Sci. 2 (9), pp 660-666 (2016)

Nucleosomes form the basic unit of compaction within eukaryotic genomes, and their locations represent an important, yet poorly understood, mechanism of genetic regulation. Quantifying the strength of interactions within the nucleosome is a central problem in biophysics and is critical to understanding how nucleosome positions influence gene expression. By comparing to single-molecule experiments, we demonstrate that a coarse-grained molecular model of the nucleosome can reproduce key aspects of nucleosome unwrapping. Using detailed simulations of DNA and histone proteins, we calculate the tension-dependent free energy surface corresponding to the unwrapping process. The model reproduces quantitatively the forces required to unwrap the nucleosome and reveals the role played by electrostatic interactions during this process. We then demonstrate that histone modifications and DNA sequence can have significant effects on the energies of nucleosome formation. Most notably, we show that histone tails contribute asymmetrically to the stability of the outer and inner turn of nucleosomal DNA and that depending on which histone tails are modified, the tension-dependent response is modulated differently.

### An O(N) and parallel approach to integral problems by a kernel-independent fast multipole method: Application to polarization and magnetization of interacting particles

Xikai Jiang, Jiyuan Li, Xujun Zhao, Jian Qin, Dmitry Karpeev, Juan Hernandez-Ortiz, Juan J. de Pablo,and Olle Heinonen

J. Chem. Phys. 145, 064307 (2016)

Large classes of materials systems in physics and engineering are governed by magnetic and electrostatic interactions. Continuum or mesoscale descriptions of such systems can be cast in terms of integral equations, whose direct computational evaluation requires O(N2) operations, where N is the number of unknowns. Such a scaling, which arises from the many-body nature of the relevant Green’s function, has precluded wide-spread adoption of integral methods for solution of large-scale scientific and engineering problems. In this work, a parallel computational approach is presented that relies on using scalable open source libraries and utilizes a kernel-independent Fast Multipole Method (FMM) to evaluate the integrals in O(N) operations, with O(N) memory cost, thereby substantially improving the scalability and efficiency of computational integral methods. We demonstrate the accuracy, efficiency, and scalability of our approach in the context of two examples. In the first, we solve a boundary value problem for a ferroelectric/ferromagnetic volume in free space. In the second, we solve an electrostatic problem involving polarizable dielectric bodies in an unbounded dielectric medium. The results from these test cases show that our proposed parallel approach, which is built on a kernel-independent FMM, can enable highly efficient and accurate simulations and allow for considerable flexibility in a broad range of applications.

### A coarse-grained thermodynamic model for the predictive engineering of valence-selective membranes

Vikramjit Singh Rathee, Siyi Qu, William A. Phillip, and Jonathan K. Whitmer

Mol. Syst. Des. Eng. 1, pp 301-312 (2016)

Membrane-based filtration has shown promise in the treatment of municipal and industrial water supplies. Most existing filtration membranes rely on size-selective rejection mechanisms and do not offer a systematic means to tune the chemistry of the membrane and, in turn, the rejection of solutes based on chemical factors. Technological advancements in copolymer self-assembly have permitted the creation of highly porous membranes through arrested microphase separation. The resulting structures exhibit nanoscale pores whose size and chemistry are controlled by the macromolecular architecture of the copolymer precursors. Here, we examine in detail how the structure and chemistry of charge-functionalized copolymers affect their performance as nanofiltration membranes through experiments and coarse-grained molecular simulation of membranes formed from poly(acrylonitrile-r-oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate-r-glycidyl methacrylate) (P(AN-r-OEGMA-r-GMA)). Charge-selective moieties were introduced into the membranes through reactions with diamine salts of varying length, enabling these membranes to offer preferential rejection of multivalent ionic species. Using a minimal model, we explore the essential thermodynamics features of salt rejection in these membranes, and develop a model capable of linking the performance of the membranes to their molecular character through measurement of the underlying free energy profile. Our key result is an effective membrane porosity which quantitatively describes experiments for a wide variety of situations after calibrating a single parameter. These results demonstrate that at moderate ion concentrations and flow rates, the selection of ions is driven predominantly by equilibrium thermodynamics. Going forward, the ability of the model to capture the rejection of dissolved solutes can be leveraged to design optimized membranes for targeted performance profiles in silico before undertaking time consuming batteries of Edisonian experiments.

### Elastic properties of common Gay–Berne nematogens from density of states (DOS) simulations

Hythem Sidky and Jonathan K. Whitmer

Liquid Crystals 43, pp 2285-2299 (2016)

A free energy perturbation method is used to systematically study the elastic properties of four common Gay–Berne nematogenic models; two with a length-to-diameter ratio κ = 3 [(3, 5, 1, 2) and (3, 5, 1, 3)], a model with κ = 4.4 parameterised for p-terphenyl (4.4, 20, 1, 1), and a discogen with κ = 0.345 (0.345, 0.2, 1, 2). In accordance with previous measurements, we find that for κ = 3, models, . We additionally find the latter two models in particular accurately capture the experimentally measured elastic ratios in apolar achiral systems. The (4.4, 20, 1, 1) model reproduces the elastic constant ratios of p-azoxyanisole remarkably well, and maps to within 30% of the absolute. The (0.345, 0.2, 1, 2) model elastic constants exhibit an unusual temperature dependence similar to recent experimental studies. Here we find , in line with theoretical predictions. All models deviate from the mean-field expectation kii ∝ S2. These results represent a crucial first step towards quantitatively accurate coarse-grained liquid crystalline models of self-assembly and response, enabling one to choose a Gay–Berne model based on its measured elastic ratios rather than just its shape and energy anisotropy.

### Implementation and Validation of Fully-Relativistic GW Calculations: Spin-Orbit Coupling in Molecules, Nanocrystals and Solids

Peter Scherpelz, Marco Govoni, Ikutaro Hamada, and Giulia Galli

J. Chem. Theory Comput. 12 (8), 3523-3544 (2016)

We present an implementation of G0W0 calculations including spin–orbit coupling (SOC) enabling investigations of large systems, with thousands of electrons, and we discuss results for molecules, solids, and nanocrystals. Using a newly developed set of molecules with heavy elements (called GW-SOC81), we find that, when based upon hybrid density functional calculations, fully relativistic (FR) and scalar-relativistic (SR) G0W0 calculations of vertical ionization potentials both yield excellent performance compared to experiment, with errors below 1.9%. We demonstrate that while SR calculations have higher random errors, FR calculations systematically underestimate the VIP by 0.1 to 0.2 eV. We further verify that SOC effects may be well approximated at the FR density functional level and then added to SR G0W0 results for a broad class of systems. We also address the use of different root-finding algorithms for the G0W0 quasiparticle equation and the significant influence of including d electrons in the valence partition of the pseudopotential for G0W0 calculations. Finally, we present statistical analyses of our data, highlighting the importance of separating definitive improvements from those that may occur by chance due to a limited number of samples. We suggest the statistical analyses used here will be useful in the assessment of the accuracy of a large variety of electronic structure methods.

### Elastic response and phase behavior in binary liquid crystal mixtures

Hythem Sidky and Jonathan K. Whitmer

Soft Matter 12, 4489-4498 (2016)

Utilizing density-of-states simulations, we perform a full mapping of the phase behavior and elastic responses of binary liquid crystalline mixtures represented by the multicomponent Lebwohl–Lasher model. Our techniques are able to characterize the complete phase diagram, including nematic–nematic phase separation predicted by mean-field theories, but previously not observed in simulations. Mapping this phase diagram permits detailed study of elastic properties across the miscible nematic region. Importantly, we observe for the first time local phase separation and disordering driven by the application of small linear perturbations near the transition temperature and more significantly through nonlinear stresses. These findings are of key importance in systems of blended nematics which contain particulate inclusions, or are otherwise confined.

### Photoelectron spectra of aqueous solutions from first principles

Alex P. Gaiduk, Marco Govoni, Robert Seidel, Jonathan Skone, Bernd Winter, and Giulia Galli

J. Am. Chem. Soc. 138, 6912-6915 (2016)

We present a combined computational and experimental study of the photoelectron spectrum of a simple aqueous solution of NaCl. Measurements were conducted on microjets, and first-principles calculations were performed using hybrid functionals and many-body perturbation theory at the G0W0 level, starting with wave functions computed in ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. We show excellent agreement between theory and experiments for the positions of both the solute and solvent excitation energies on an absolute energy scale and for peak intensities. The best comparison was obtained using wave functions obtained with dielectric-dependent self-consistent and range-separated hybrid functionals. Our computational protocol opens the way to accurate, predictive calculations of the electronic properties of electrolytes, of interest to a variety of energy problems.

### Lattice Boltzmann simulation of asymmetric flow in nematic liquid crystals with finite anchoring

Rui Zhang, Tyler Roberts, Igor S. Aranson, and Juan J. de Pablo

J. Chem. Phys.144, 084905 (2016)

Liquid crystals (LCs) display many of the flow characteristics of liquids but exhibit long range orientational order. In the nematic phase, the coupling of structure and flow leads to complex hydrodynamic effects that remain to be fully elucidated. Here, we consider the hydrodynamics of a nematic LC in a hybrid cell, where opposite walls have conflicting anchoring boundary conditions, and we employ a 3D lattice Boltzmann method to simulate the time-dependent flow patterns that can arise. Due to the symmetry breaking of the director field within the hybrid cell, we observe that at low to moderate shear rates, the volumetric flow rate under Couette and Poiseuille flows is different for opposite flow directions. At high shear rates, the director field may undergo a topological transition which leads to symmetric flows. By applying an oscillatory pressure gradient to the channel, a net volumetric flow rate is found to depend on the magnitude and frequency of the oscillation, as well as the anchoring strength. Taken together, our findings suggest several intriguing new applications for LCs in microfluidic devices.