Wetting and drying of a rigid substrate under variation of the microscopic details

TL;DR

This study uses molecular dynamics simulations to explore how microscopic details like particle size influence wetting and drying transitions on rigid substrates, revealing continuous-like transitions across various surface conditions.

Contribution

It demonstrates that wetting and drying transitions remain continuous-like regardless of particle size and surface roughness, challenging previous reports of first order transitions.

Findings

Transitions are continuous-like for all particle sizes and surface types.

Inconsistencies found in solid-vapor and solid-fluid surface tensions near transitions.

Qualitative behavior is similar across different microscopic configurations.

Abstract

Wetting and drying of a rigid substrate by a Lennard-Jones fluid in molecular dynamics simulations is reported. The size of the substrate particles, being smaller than the fluid particles in former simulations, is now taken to be equal to, respectively larger than, that of the fluid particles. Recently, for the latter type of system a first order drying transition has been reported. Like before we find a continuous-like transition for all systems considered. This also holds for substrates with incompletely-filled top layers, the so-called molecularly rough surfaces. All systems studied behave qualitatively alike, but inconsistencies are found in the solid-vapour surface tension on approach of the wetting transition and for the solid-fluid surface tension in general.