title: Competing evaporation and condensation processes during the boiling of methane.
abstract: The atomistic mechanism of the boiling of methane is explored from molecular dynamics simulations. The liquid --> vapor transition is initiated by local density fluctuations resulting in a nanometer-sized domain that exhibits both liquid and vapor characteristics. Though the rates of evaporation and condensation events increase dramatically in this area, the overall balance exhibits only a marginal net rate of evaporation. Growth of the precritical domain leads to the nucleation of a vapor phase in which isolated methane molecules are confined by a liquid-vapor interface. After crossing the transition state, the system experiences progressive destabilization of the liquid phase and the evaporation processes clearly outnumber the condensation events.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck Institut für Chemische Physik fester Stoffe, Nöthnitzer Strasse 40, 01187 Dresden, Germany. zahn@cpfs.mpg.de
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zahn