An Efficient Algorithm for Interfacial Statistical Associating Fluid (iSAFT) in Cylindrical Geometry

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new, efficient numerical algorithm for solving interfacial statistical associating fluid theory (iSAFT) in cylindrical geometries, improving computational performance for studying inhomogeneous fluids with curvature effects.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel numerical algorithm for iSAFT in cylindrical geometry that outperforms existing methods in efficiency, enabling advanced studies of curved fluid interfaces.

Findings

iSAFT accurately predicts layering transitions in methane adsorption

The method captures microstructural transitions in polymer brushes

Algorithm demonstrates improved time scaling and stability

Abstract

In this work we present an efficient numerical algorithm for the solution of interfacial statistical associating fluid theory (iSAFT) in cylindrical geometry to facilitate the study of inhomogeneous fluids having curvatures. The new solution algorithm is shown to have a better time scaling than the elliptic function method by Malijevsky, and the transform method by Lado. Convergence, performance, and stability of the numerical algorithm are discussed. We showcase two representative applications of the new method for modeling fluid adsorption and bottlebrush polymers. By comparing iSAFT with molecular simulation results, we found that iSAFT predicts layering transitions above the triple point for methane adsorption, and it captures power-law to parabolic transitions for polymers brush microstructure. We conclude that the continuous development of solution algorithm for iSAFT enables researchers to investigate curvature effects for fluids in efficient manners.