Wetting transitions in polydisperse fluids
arXiv:cond-mat/0609118 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.136104
Abstract
The properties of the coexisting bulk gas and liquid phases of a polydisperse fluid depend not only on the prevailing temperature, but also on the overall parent density. As a result, a polydisperse fluid near a wall will exhibit density-driven wetting transitions inside the coexistence region. We propose a likely topology for the wetting phase diagram, which we test using Monte Carlo simulations of a model polydisperse fluid at an attractive wall, tracing the wetting line inside the cloud curve and identifying the relationship to prewetting.
4 Pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters