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Updated: May 13, 2026

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets

Published on: May 15, 2017

Geometry-induced phase transition in fluids: capillary prewetting.

Petr Yatsyshin¹, Nikos Savva, Serafim Kalliadasis

¹Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.

Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics

|March 19, 2013

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

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A new first-order phase transition, termed capillary prewetting, precedes capillary condensation in confined fluids. This transition involves the discontinuous formation of a liquid meniscus, offering new insights into fluid behavior in pores.

Area of Science:

Physical Chemistry
Thermodynamics
Surface Science

Background:

Capillary condensation describes fluid adsorption in confined geometries.
Understanding phase transitions in confined systems is crucial for materials science and nanotechnology.

Purpose of the Study:

To identify and characterize a novel phase transition preceding capillary condensation.
To compute the phase diagram of a confined fluid system.

Main Methods:

Utilized a mean-field microscopic approach based on density functional theory.
Analyzed a prototypical two-dimensional fluid confined in a semi-infinite rectangular pore.

Main Results:

Discovered a first-order phase transition (capillary prewetting) occurring before capillary condensation.

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Last Updated: May 13, 2026

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets

Published on: May 15, 2017

Combining Microfluidics and Microrheology to Determine Rheological Properties of Soft Matter during Repeated Phase Transitions

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The new transition line is tangential to the capillary condensation line at the capillary wetting temperature.

Capillary condensation becomes a second-order phenomenon above the capillary wetting temperature.

Conclusions:

The study reveals a new surface phase behavior analogous to planar prewetting.
The findings provide a comprehensive phase diagram for capillary condensation in confined systems.
Characterized critical exponents for adsorption divergence in this system.