title: Local solvent density augmentation around a solute in supercritical solvent bath: 1. A mechanism explanation and a new phenomenon.
abstract: A recently proposed partitioned density functional (DF) approximation (Phys. Rev. E 2003, 68, 061201) and an adjustable parameter-free version of a Lagrangian theorem-based DF approximation (LTDFA: Phys. Lett. A 2003, 319, 279) are combined to propose a DF approximation for nonuniform Lennard-Jones (LJ) fluid. Predictions of the present DF approximation for local LJ solvent density inhomogeneity around a large LJ solute particle or hard core Yukawa particle are in good agreement with existing simulation data. An extensive investigation about the effect of solvent bath temperature, solvent-solute interaction range, solvent-solute interaction magnitude, and solute size on the local solvent density inhomogeneity is carried out with the present DF approximation. It is found that a plateau of solvent accumulation number as a function of solvent bath bulk density is due to a coupling between the solvent-solute interaction and solvent correlation whose mathematical expression is a convolution integral appearing in the density profile equation of the DF theory formalism. The coupling becomes stronger as the increasing of the whole solvent-solute interaction strength, solute size relative to solvent size, and the closeness to the critical density and temperature of the solvent bath. When the attractive solvent-solute interaction becomes large enough and the bulk state moves close enough to the critical temperature of the solvent bath, the maximum solvent accumulation number as a function of solvent bath bulk density appears near the solvent bath critical density; the appearance of this maximum is in contrast with a conclusion drawn by a previous investigation based on an inhomogeneous version of Ornstein-Zernike integral equation carried out only for a smaller parameter space than that in the present paper. Advantage of the DFT approach over the integral equation is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Modern Statistical Mechanics, Zhuzhou Institute of Technology, Wenhua Road, Zhuzhou city, 412008, P. R. China. chixiayzsq@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Shiqi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D002627:Chemistry, Physical / Q000379:methods*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D008956:Models, Chemical; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012996:Solutions; D012997:Solvents / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature; D013816:Thermodynamics; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry; D014978:Xenon / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D012996:Solutions; D012997:Solvents; D014867:Water; D014978:Xenon