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Updated: Dec 24, 2025

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
Published on: May 15, 2017
Effect of shape on liquid-vapor coexistence and surface properties of parallelepiped molecules
Anthony B Gutiérrez1, Gustavo A Chapela1
1Departamento de Física, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, Av. San Rafael Atlixco 186, Col. Vicentina, 09340 México D.F., Mexico.
Abstract:
Liquid-vapor coexistence is calculated via molecular dynamics for a variety of parallelepiped shaped molecules. Models are constructed as an array of tangential hard spheres interacting with an attractive square-well potential. Each shape is formed by varying the number of spheres in their three sides. The initial density of the system is chosen close to the critical density of a SW fluid to obtain an equilibrated liquid-vapor coexistence curve by the process of spinodal decomposition. A pattern that relates the geometry of the molecular models and the existence or non-existence of a liquid-vapor orthobaric curve is shown.
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