Soft core fluid in a quenched matrix of soft core particles: a mobile mixture in a model gel.
We present a density-functional study of a binary phase-separating mixture of soft core particles immersed in a random matrix of quenched soft core particles of larger size. This is a model for a binary polymer mixture immersed in a cross-linked rigid polymer network. Using the replica "trick" for quenched-annealed mixtures we derive an explicit density functional theory that treats the quenched species on the level of its one-body density distribution. The relation to a set of effective external potentials acting on the annealed components is discussed. We relate matrix-induced condensation in bulk to the behavior of the mixture around a single large particle. The interfacial properties of the binary mixture at a surface of the quenched matrix display a rich interplay between capillary condensation inside the bulk matrix and wetting phenomena at the matrix surface.
Archer
A J
AJ
H.H. Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TL, United Kingdom. Andrew.Archer@bristol.ac.uk
Schmidt
M
M
Evans
R
R