We present a first-principles method for the determination of the van der Waals interactions for a collection of finite-sized macroscopic bodies. The method is based on fluctuational electrodynamics and a rigorous multiple-scattering method for the electromagnetic field. As such, the method takes fully into account retardation, many-body, multipolar, and near-fields effects. By application of t...

Fine powders often tend to agglomerate due to van der Waals forces between the particles. These forces can be reduced significantly by covering the particles with nanoscaled adsorbates, as shown by recent experiments. In the present work a quantitative statistical analysis of the effect of powder flow regulating nanomaterials on the adhesive forces in powders is given. Covering two spherical po...

The van der Waals interaction between a lipid membrane and a substrate covered by a graphene sheet is investigated using the Lifshitz theory. The reflection coefficients are obtained for a layered planar system submerged in water. The dielectric response properties of the involved materials are also specified and discussed. Our calculations show that a graphene covered substrate can repel the b...

Grazing incidence small-angle scattering and electron microscopy have been used to show for the first time that nonspherical nanoparticles can assemble into highly ordered body-centered tetragonal mesocrystals. Energy models accounting for the directionality and magnitude of the van der Waals and dipolar interactions as a function of the degree of truncation of the nanocubes illustrated the imp...

1. A consensus view holds that anesthetics act by van der Waals forces in hydrophobic pockets of select brain proteins to ablate consciousness. 2. What is consciousness? Enigmatic features of consciousness (e.g. 'qualia', binding, non-computability, pre-conscious-->conscious transition, nondeterministic free will) may be explained by the occurrence of quantum coherent states in the brain. 3. Va...

Density functional theory is in principle exact and includes also long-range interactions, such as the van der Waals interactions. These are, however, part of the exchange-correlation energy functional that needs to be approximated, and are absent in the local and semilocal standard implementations. Recently a density functional which includes van der Waals interactions for planar systems has b...

Density functional theory calculations indicate that van der Waals fullerene dimers and larger oligomers can form interstitial electron traps in which the electrons are even more strongly bound than in isolated fullerene radical anions. The fullerenes behave like "super atoms", and the interstitial electron traps represent one-electron intermolecular σ-bonds. Spectroelectrochemical measurements...

We argue that a recent discussion of Jetzer and Straumann [Phys. Lett. B 606, 77 (2005)] relating the measured noise spectrum in Josephson junctions to van der Waals forces is incorrect. The measured noise spectrum in Josephson junctions is a consequence of the fluctuation dissipation theorem and the Josephson effect and has nothing to do with van der Waals forces. Consequently, the argument of...

The force field used was MMF94s, without any solvent treatment. A constant dielectric of 1.0 was employed for the electrostatic treatment, whereas the charges were assigned by the force field (Fig. 1). Moreover, an extended non-bonded cut-off was set, for taking into account the best maximum distances over which hydrogen bonding, Van der Waals and electrostatic contributions to the molecular po...

Here we apply the two-dimensional van der Waals model to interpret surface-tension isotherms of aqueous solutions of n-alkanoic (fatty) acids. We processed available experimental data for a homologous series of eight acids, from pentanoic to dodecanoic (lauric). Only three adjustable parameters have been varied to fit simultaneously all experimental curves. Excellent agreement between the theor...