Chirality-induced phase separation and collective dynamics in binary mixtures of chiral particles.

Abstract

Transverse interactions between particles can disrupt thermodynamic equilibrium, giving rise to distinctive nonequilibrium dynamics. However, the collective behavior of mixed particles with varying chiralities remains largely unexplored. In this paper, we use numerical simulations to investigate the separation and collective dynamics of binary mixtures with differing chiralities. Our results show that, even without attractive forces, chirality-induced nonhomogeneous bubble phases drive the clustering of similar particles, facilitating phase separation. Binary mixtures with opposing chirality spontaneously separate under specific conditions. We identify optimal parameters-such as the chirality, reduced inertial time, and packing fraction-that maximize the degree of separation. The chirality ratio emerges as a critical factor influencing both phase separation and collective dynamics. Furthermore, we observe that mixtures of particles sharing the same chirality direction but differing in magnitude can still achieve significant separation. In contrast, systems with completely opposite chirality do not form fully enclosed bubbles. Instead, when one particle type dominates, full bubbles emerge, with their number increasing as both the chirality and chirality ratio rise.