Molecular dynamics study for the thermal conductivity of diatomic liquid

The thermal conductivity of diatomic liquids was analyzed using a nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) method. Five liquids, namely, O₂, CO, CS₂, Cl₂ and Br₂, were assumed. The two-center Lennard-Jones (2CLJ) model was used to express the intermolecular potential acting on liquid molecules. First, the equation of state of each liquid was obtained using MD simulation, and the critical temperature, density and pressure of each liquid were determined. Heat conduction of each liquid at various liquid states [metastable (ρ=1.9ρ_cr), saturated (ρ=2.1ρ_cr), and stable (ρ=2.3ρ_cr)] at T=0.7T_cr was simulated and the thermal conductivity was estimated. These values were compared with experimental results and it was confirmed that the simulated results were consistent with the experimental data within 10%. Obtained thermal conductivities at saturated state were reduced by the critical temperature, density and mass of molecules and these values were compared with each other. It was found that the reduced thermal conductivity increased with the increase in the molecular elongation. Detailed analysis of the molecular contribution to the thermal conductivity revealed that the contribution of the heat flux caused by energy transport and by translational energy transfer to the thermal conductivity is independent of the molecular elongation while the contribution of the heat flux caused by rotational energy transfer to the thermal conductivity increases with the increase in the molecular elongation. Moreover, by comparing the reduced thermal conductivity at various states, it was found that the increase of thermal conductivity with the increase in the density, or pressure, was caused by the increase of the contribution of energy transfer due to molecular interaction.