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Abstract Nuclear quantum effects (NQEs) influence many physical and chemical phenomena, particularly those involving light atoms or occurring at low temperatures. However, their impact has been carefully quantified in few systems-like water-and is rarely considered more broadly. Here we use path-integral molecular dynamics to systematically investigate NQEs on thermophysical properties of 92 organic liquids at ambient conditions. Depending on chemical constitution, we find substantial impact across thermal expansivity, compressibility, dielectric constant, enthalpy of vaporization, and notably molar volume, which shows consistent, positive quantum-classical differences up to 5%; similar, less pronounced trends manifest as isotope effects from deuteration. Using data-driven analysis, we identify three features-molar mass, classical hydrogen density, and classical thermal expansivity-that accurately predict NQEs and facilitate understanding of how characteristics like branching and heteroatom content influence behavior. This work highlights the broad relevance of NQEs in molecular liquids, while also providing a conceptual and practical framework to anticipate their impact. 

Single-chain nanoparticles (SCNPs) are a class of materials formed by the intramolecular cross-linking and collapse of single polymer chains. Because their morphology dictates suitability for specific applications, such as nanoscale reactors and drug delivery vehicles, understanding how to control or tailor morphologies is of interest. Here, we investigate how the morphology of SCNPs depends on both precursor chain attributes, such as linker fraction and backbone stiffness, and an imposed shear flow. Using coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations, we generate an ensemble of structures from 10,800 unique SCNPs, some formed under quiescent conditions and some in shear flow--the latter of which has not been previously studied. We then characterize morphologies by analysis of a three-dimensional embedding space obtained through unsupervised learning of the simulated structures. This reveals how SCNP morphology depends on dimensionless parameters, related to precursor-chain attributes and shear rate, and offers insight into their relative influence. Interestingly, we find that shear rate has comparable influence to the degree of polymerization and the blockiness of reactive sites. Furthermore, shear, which can be externally controlled independent of precursor chain synthesis, can have persistent effects on morphology, such as enhancing compaction of SCNPs based on stiff chains. This work provides guidelines for designing SCNPs with targeted characteristics based on five dimensionless variables and illustrates the utility of machine learning in analyzing SCNPs formed across a range of conditions. 

Phase separation in multicomponent mixtures is of significant interest in both fundamental research and technology. Although the thermodynamic principles governing phase equilibria are straightforward, practical determination of equilibrium phases and constituent compositions for multicomponent systems is often laborious and computationally intensive. Here, we present a machine-learning workflow that simplifies and accelerates phase-coexistence calculations. We specifically analyze capabilities of neural networks to predict the number, composition, and relative abundance of equilibrium phases of systems described by Flory-Huggins theory. We find that incorporating physics-informed material constraints into the neural network architecture enhances the prediction of equilibrium compositions compared to standard neural networks with minor errors along the boundaries of the stable region. However, introducing additional physics-informed losses does not lead to significant further improvement. These errors can be virtually eliminated by using machine-learning predictions as a warm-start for a subsequent optimization routine. This work provides a promising pathway to efficiently characterize multicomponent phase coexistence. 

Phase separation in multicomponent mixtures is of significant interest in both fundamental research and technology. Although the thermodynamic principles governing phase equilibria are straightforward, practical determination of equilibrium phases and constituent compositions for multicomponent systems is often laborious and computationally intensive. Here, we present a machine-learning workflow that simplifies and accelerates phase-coexistence calculations. We specifically analyze capabilities of neural networks to predict the number, composition, and relative abundance of equilibrium phases of systems described by Flory-Huggins theory. We find that incorporating physics-informed material constraints into the neural network architecture enhances the prediction of equilibrium compositions compared to standard neural networks with minor errors along the boundaries of the stable region. However, introducing additional physics-informed losses does not lead to significant further improvement. These errors can be virtually eliminated by using machine-learning predictions as a warm-start for a subsequent optimization routine. This work provides a promising pathway to efficiently characterize multicomponent phase coexistence. 

Cannabidiol (CBD) is viewed as a promising therapeutic agent against a variety of health ailments; however, its efficacy is limited by poor aqueous solubility. Amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs) can enhance the solubility of therapeutics by distributing them throughout a polymer matrix. In consideration of ASD formulations with CBD, we investigate the interactions of CBD with various polymers: poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP), poly(vinylpyrrolidone)/vinyl acetate (PVP/VA) copolymer, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose phthalate (HPMCP), hydroxypropyl methylcellulose acetate succinate (HPMCAS), and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). Both the experiment and molecular dynamics simulation reveal diverse mixing behavior among the set of polymers. Detailed structural and nanoscale interaction analyses suggest that positive deviations from ideal mixing behavior arise from the formation of stable polymer–CBD hydrogen bonds, whereas negative deviations are associated with disruptions to the polymer–polymer hydrogen bond network. Polymer–water interaction analyses indicate the significance of polymer hydrophobicity that can lead to poor dissolution of CBD. These results have implications for drug dissolution rates based on how CBD and water interact with each polymer. Furthermore, these insights may be used to guide ASD formulations for CBD or other small-molecule therapeutic agents. 

We introduce a lattice framework that incorporates elements of Flory–Huggins solution theory and the q-state Potts model to study the phase behavior of polymer solutions and single-chain conformational characteristics. Without empirically introducing temperature-dependent interaction parameters, standard Flory–Huggins theory describes systems that are either homogeneous across temperatures or exhibit upper critical solution temperatures. The proposed Flory–Huggins–Potts framework extends these capabilities by predicting lower critical solution temperatures, miscibility loops, and hourglass-shaped spinodal curves. We particularly show that including orientation-dependent interactions, specifically between monomer segments and solvent particles, is alone sufficient to observe such phase behavior. Signatures of emergent phase behavior are found in single-chain Monte Carlo simulations, which display heating- and cooling-induced coil–globule transitions linked to energy fluctuations. The framework also capably describes a range of experimental systems. Importantly, and by contrast to many prior theoretical approaches, the framework does not employ any temperature- or composition-dependent parameters. This work provides new insights regarding the microscopic physics that underpin complex thermoresponsive behavior in polymers. 

This dataset holds 1036 ternary phase diagrams and how points on the diagram phase separate if they do. The data is provided as a serialized object using the `pickle' Python module. The data was compiled using Python version 3.8.  ReferencesThe specific applications and analyses of the data are described in 1.  Dhamankar, S.; Jiang, S.; Webb, M.A. "Accelerating Multicomponent Phase-Coexistence Calculations with Physics-informed Neural Networks" UsageTo access the data in the .pickle file, users can execute the following: # LOAD SIMULATION DATADATA_DIR = "your/custom/dir/" filename = os.path.join(DATA_DIR, f"data_clean.pickle")with open(filename, "rb") as handle:    (x, y_c, y_r, phase_idx, num_phase, max_phase) = pickle.load(handle) x: Input x = (χ_AB, χ_BC, χ_AC, v_A, v_B, v_C, φ_A, φ_B) ∈ ℝ^8. y_c: Output one-hot encoded classification vector y_c ∈ ℝ^3. y_r: Output equilibrium composition and abundance vector y_r = (φ_A^α, φ_B^α, φ_A^β, φ_B^β, φ_A^γ, φ_B^γ, w^α, w^β, w^γ) ∈ ℝ^9. phase_idx: A single integer indicating which unique phase system it belongs to. num_phase: A single integer indicates the number of equilibrium phases the input splits into. max_phase: A single integer indicates the maximum number of equilibrium phases the system splits into. Help, Suggestions, Corrections?If you need help, have suggestions, identify issues, or have corrections, please send your comments to Shengli Jiang at sj0161@princeton.edu GitHubAdditional data and code relevant for this study is additionally accessible at hthttps://github.com/webbtheosim/ml-ternary-phase