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Updated: Mar 23, 2026

Analyzing Mixing Inhomogeneity in a Microfluidic Device by Microscale Schlieren Technique
Published on: June 12, 2015
Mutual diffusion of binary liquid mixtures containing methanol, ethanol, acetone, benzene, cyclohexane, toluene, and
Gabriela Guevara-Carrion1, Tatjana Janzen1, Y Mauricio Muñoz-Muñoz1
1Thermodynamics and Energy Technology, University of Paderborn, 33098 Paderborn, Germany.
Abstract:
Mutual diffusion coefficients of all 20 binary liquid mixtures that can be formed out of methanol, ethanol, acetone, benzene, cyclohexane, toluene, and carbon tetrachloride without a miscibility gap are studied at ambient conditions of temperature and pressure in the entire composition range. The considered mixtures show a varying mixing behavior from almost ideal to strongly non-ideal. Predictive molecular dynamics simulations employing the Green-Kubo formalism are carried out. Radial distribution functions are analyzed to gain an understanding of the liquid structure influencing the diffusion processes. It is shown that cluster formation in mixtures containing one alcoholic component has a significant impact on the diffusion process. The estimation of the thermodynamic factor from experimental vapor-liquid equilibrium data is investigated, considering three excess Gibbs energy models, i.e., Wilson, NRTL, and UNIQUAC. It is found that the Wilson model yields the thermodynamic factor that best suits the simulation results for the prediction of the Fick diffusion coefficient. Four semi-empirical methods for the prediction of the self-diffusion coefficients and nine predictive equations for the Fick diffusion coefficient are assessed and it is found that methods based on local composition models are more reliable. Finally, the shear viscosity and thermal conductivity are predicted and in most cases favorably compared with experimental literature values.
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