Analytical representation of the radial distribution function for classical fluids

Predicting the structure of fluids with piecewise constant interactions: Comparing the accuracy of five efficient integral equation theories

We use molecular dynamics simulations to test integral equation theory predictions for the structure of fluids of spherical particles with eight different piecewise-constant pair-interaction forms comprising a hard core and a combination of two shoulders and/or wells. Since model pair potentials like these are of interest for discretized or coarse-grained representations of effective interactions in complex fluids (e.g., for computationally intensive inverse optimization problems), we focus here on assessing how accurately their properties can be predicted by analytical or simple numerical closures including Percus-Yevick, hypernetted-chain, and reference hypernetted-chain closures and first-order mean spherical and modified first-order mean spherical approximations. To make quantitative comparisons between the predicted and simulated radial distribution functions, we introduce a cumulative structural error metric. For equilibrium fluid state points of these models, we find that the reference hypernetted-chain closure is the most accurate of the tested approximations as characterized by this metric or related thermodynamic quantities.

Direct correlation function for complex square barrier-square well potentials in the first-order mean spherical approximation

The direct correlation function of the complex discrete potential model fluids is obtained as a linear combination of the first-order mean spherical approximation (FMSA) solution for the simple square well model that has been reported recently [Hlushak et al., J. Chem. Phys. 130, 234511 (2009)]. The theory is employed to evaluate the structure and thermodynamics of complex fluids based on the square well-barrier and square well-barrier-well discrete potential models. Obtained results are compared with theoretical predictions of the hybrid mean spherical approximation, already reported in the literature [Guillen-Escamilla et al., J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 19, 086224 (2007)], and with computer simulation data of this study. The compressibility route to thermodynamics is then used to check whether the FMSA theory is able to predict multiple fluid-fluid transitions for the square barrier-well model fluids.

Wetting behavior of spherical nanoparticles at a vapor-liquid interface: a density functional theory study

The wetting behavior of spherical nanoparticles at a vapor-liquid interface is investigated by using density functional theory, and the line tension calculation method is modified by analyzing the total energy of the vapor-liquid-particle equilibrium. Compared with the direct measurement data from simulation, the results reveal that the thermodynamically consistent Young's equation for planar interfaces is still applicable for high curvature surfaces in predicting a wide range of contact angles. The effect of the line tension on the contact angle is further explored, showing that the contact angles given by the original and modified Young's equations are nearly the same within the region of 60° < θ < 120°. Whereas the effect is considerable when the contact angle deviates from the region. The wetting property of nanoparticles in terms of the fluid-particle interaction strength, particle size, and temperature is also discussed. It is found that, for a certain particle, a moderate fluid-particle interaction strength would keep the particle stable at the interface in a wide temperature range.

Thermodynamic properties of model solids with short-ranged potentials from Monte Carlo simulations and perturbation theory

Monte Carlo simulations have been performed to determine the excess energy and the equation of state of fcc solids with Sutherland potentials for wide ranges of temperatures, densities, and effective potential ranges. The same quantities have been determined within a perturbative scheme by means of two procedures: (i) Monte Carlo simulations performed on the reference hard-sphere system and (ii) second-order Barker-Henderson perturbation theory. The aim was twofold: on the one hand, to test the capability of the "exact" MC-perturbation theory of reproducing the direct MC simulations and, on the other hand, the reliability of the Barker-Henderson perturbation theory, as compared with direct MC simulations and MC-perturbation theory, to determine the thermodynamic properties of these solids depending on temperature, density, and potential range. We have found that the simulation data for the excess energy obtained from the two procedures are in close agreement with each other. For the equation of state, the results from the MC-perturbation procedure also agree well with the direct MC simulations except for very low temperatures and extremely short-ranged potentials. Regarding the Barker-Henderson perturbation theory, we have found that in general the second-order approximation does not provide significant improvement over the first-order one.

Some estimates of the surface tension of curved surfaces using density functional theory

Density functional theory is used to calculate the surface tension of planar and slightly curved surfaces, which can be written as gamma(R)=gamma(infinity)(1-2delta(infinity)R), where R is the radius of curvature of the surface. Calculations are performed for a Lennard-Jones fluid, split into a hard-sphere repulsive potential and an attractive part. The repulsive part is treated using the local density approximation. The attractive part is treated using a high temperature approximation (HTA) in which the pair correlation function is approximated by the Percus-Yevick pair correlation function of a uniform hard-sphere fluid evaluated at a position-dependent average density. An expression relating the Tolman length delta(infinity) to the density profile of the planar surface is derived. Numerical results are presented for the planar surface tension gamma(infinity) and for delta(infinity) and are compared with those using mean field theory (MFT) and with those using the square-gradient approximation. Values for gamma(infinity) using the HTA are 30%-40% higher than those using MFT. Values for delta(infinity) using the HTA are around -0.1 (in units of the Lennard-Jones parameter sigma) and only weakly dependent on temperature. These values are less negative than the values from MFT. The square-gradient approximation gives reasonable estimates of the more accurate nonlocal results for both the MFT and the HTA.