Effect of an external field on the structure and the phase transitions of a confined mixture of neutral and dipolar hard spheres |
| |
Authors: | S Chung S Amokrane |
| |
Institution: | Physique des Liquides et Milieux Complexes, Université Paris-Est (Créteil), Faculté des Sciences et Technologie, Créteil Cedex, France |
| |
Abstract: | We study by Monte Carlo simulation the model of a binary mixture of neutral and dipolar hard spheres confined between two widely separated planar walls and subjected to a uniform external field. The goal is to investigate the structural response and the phase transitions of a fluid of hard-sphere-like colloids dispersed in a low-permittivity solvent under the combined effect of geometrical confinement and applied field. In a wide slab, the direction of the field, either normal or perpendicular to the walls, remains one of the most important factors that govern the response of the mixture: in normal field, a wide variety of structural effects are evidenced, including partial wetting or drying of the wall; in parallel field, phase separation is favoured with a specific population of the region close to the wall and a clear separation of the two species. These results suggest possible means to modulate the response of the confined fluid for specific needs. |
| |
Keywords: | dipolar interactions external field confinement simulation colloids |
|
|