Energy of interaction between solid surfaces and liquids

Henri Gouin (1, 2)

1 LMMT - Laboratoire de Modélisation Mécanique et Thermodynamique, EA 2596
2 IUSTI - Institut universitaire des systèmes thermiques industriels

We consider the wetting transition on a planar surface in contact with a semi-infinite fluid. In the classical approach, the surface is assumed to be solid, and when interaction between solid and fluid is sufficiently short-range, the contribution of the fluid can be represented by a surface free energy with a density of the form Phi( rho_s), where rho_s is the limiting density of the fluid at the surface. In the present paper we propose a more precise representation of the surface energy that takes into account not only the value of rho_s but also the contribution from the whole density profile rho(z) of the fluid, where z is the coordinate normal to the surface. The specific value of the functional of rho_s at the surface is expressed in mean-field approximation through the potentials of intermolecular interaction and some other parameters of the fluid and the solid wall. An extension to the case of fluid mixtures in contact with a solid surface is proposed.

Mots clés: Wetting; Surface thermodynamics; Surface energies; Liquid-solid interfaces; Density-functional theory; Potential energy surfaces; Interatomic potentials and forces; Chemisorption/physisorption: Adsorbates on surfaces

Domaines: Chimie-Physique [physics.chem-ph]; Physique Atomique [physics.atom-ph]; Chimie théorique et/ou physique; Matériaux

Henri Gouin. Energy of interaction between solid surfaces and liquids. Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 1998, 102 (7), pp.1212-1218. ⟨10.1021/jp9723426⟩. ⟨hal-00222180⟩