2009/01/23 by Katarzyna Bucior, Leonid Yelash, Kurt Binder · 1 citation
Chemistry · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Capillary action #Chemistry #Composite material #Diffusion #Evaporation #Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films #Materials science #Phase Equilibria and Thermodynamics #Physics #Range (aeronautics) #Thermodynamic equilibrium #Thermodynamics #Volume (thermodynamics) #Wetting #cond-mat.soft #nanoparticles nucleation surface interactions
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreve.79.031604
accepted for publication in Physical Review E
arxiv created 2009/01/23 · openalex publication_date 2009/03/12 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
A simple fluid, described by pointlike particles interacting via the Lennard-Jones potential, is considered under confinement in a slit geometry between two walls at distance Lz apart for densities inside the vapor-liquid coexistence curve. Equilibrium then requires the coexistence of a liquid "bridge" between the two walls, and vapor in the remaining pore volume. We study this equilibrium for several choices of the wall-fluid interaction (corresponding to the full range from complete wetting to complete drying, for a macroscopically thick film), and consider also the kinetics of state changes in such a system. In particular, we study how this equilibrium is established by diffusion processes, when a liquid is inserted into an initially empty capillary (partial or complete evaporation into vacuum), or when the volume available for the vapor phase increases. We compare the diffusion constants describing the rates of these processes in such inhomogeneous systems to the diffusion constants in the corresponding bulk liquid and vapor phases.