Computer Simulations of the Wetting Properties of Neon on Heterogeneous Surfaces

TL;DR

This paper uses grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations to investigate how surface heterogeneity affects wetting transitions of neon on magnesium, revealing that roughness can eliminate first-order transitions seen on flat surfaces.

Contribution

It demonstrates that surface roughness can suppress first-order wetting transitions, providing insights into wetting behavior on heterogeneous surfaces.

Findings

First-order transition absent on rough surfaces

Isotherms nearly discontinuous despite the absence of a true transition

Surface heterogeneity influences wetting transition characteristics

Abstract

We use the grand canonical Monte Carlo method to study the nature of wetting transitions on a variety of heterogeneous surfaces. The model system we explore, Ne adsorption on Mg, is one for which a prewetting transition has been found in our previous simulations. We find that the first order transition present on the flat surface is absent from the rough surface. Nevertheless, the resulting isotherms are, in some cases, so close to being discontinuous that the distinction would be difficult to discern in most experiments.