Can the Dynamics of a Tracer Particle be Enhanced by Tuning its Solvation Shell Structure?

We explore via molecular simulations the correlation between self-diffusivity and partial excess entropy of a tracer particle in a hard-sphere like colloidal fluid. We then use a classical density functional theory (DFT) to obtain tracer-particle interactions that increase the partial excess entropy of the tracer by changing the tracer-particle pair correlation function. Finally, we show that interactions between a polymer coated tracer particle and an uncoated particle can be mapped approximately on the potential obtained above using DFT. We then explore the dynamics of a tracer particle with these two sets of interactions via molecular dynamics simulations.