Effects of substrate relaxation on adsorption in pores

TL;DR

This paper investigates how substrate relaxation affects fluid adsorption in pores, revealing that accounting for relaxation significantly increases cohesion and binding energies compared to rigid host assumptions.

Contribution

It introduces a method to evaluate substrate relaxation effects on fluid adsorption, demonstrating increased cohesion and binding energies in various pore geometries.

Findings

Relaxation leads to stronger cohesion in 3He in pores.

Increased binding effects observed for classical fluids in slit pores and nanotubes.

Relaxation effects are significant and should be considered in adsorption models.

Abstract

Fluids in porous media are commonly studied with analytical or simulation methods, usually assuming that the host medium is rigid. By evaluating the substrate's response (relaxation) to the presence of the fluid we assess the error inherent in that assumption. One application is a determination of the ground state of 3He in slit and cylindrical pores. With the relaxation, there results a much stronger cohesion than would be found for a rigid host. Similar increased binding effects of relaxation are found for classical fluids confined within slit pores or nanotube bundles.