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Symmetry breaking in binary mixtures in closed nanoslits
Gersh O Berim1, Eli Ruckenstein
1Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14260, USA.
The Journal of Chemical Physics
|April 10, 2008
Summary
Symmetry breaking in binary fluid mixtures within nanoslits can lead to component-rich bridges or bumps. The system favors a single bridge structure at large slit periodic lengths, indicating a very large, potentially infinite, period.
Area of Science:
- Physical Chemistry
- Materials Science
- Statistical Mechanics
Background:
- Investigates symmetry breaking (SB) in fluid density distribution (FDD) within nanoslits, extending prior work on single-component fluids.
- Focuses on binary fluid mixtures with differing molecular sizes and interaction potentials confined between parallel solid walls.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the symmetry breaking phenomena in binary fluid mixtures using nonlocal canonical ensemble density functional theory.
- To understand the conditions under which symmetry breaking occurs for individual components and the overall mixture.
Main Methods:
- Employs nonlocal canonical ensemble density functional theory to model fluid behavior in nanoslits.
- Assumes periodicity of FDD in the x-direction (lateral) and uniformity in the y-direction (lateral), consistent with simulation approaches.
- Analyzes the dependence of SB states on the FDD period length (Lx) and average fluid density.
Main Results:
- Symmetry breaking can occur for both or neither component, but never for only one component in the binary mixture.
- Fluid density distributions can become asymmetrical about the mid-plane between walls (h-direction).
- Lateral SB manifests as component-enriched bumps or bridges, with the inter-bridge region enriched in the other component.
Conclusions:
- For large periodic lengths (Lx), the system stabilizes into a bridge structure.
- The observed monotonic decrease in free energy with increasing Lx suggests a very large, effectively infinite, period for a single bridge.
- This indicates the formation of a single, stable bridge structure within the nanoslit under specific conditions.
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