Predicting how nanoconfinement changes the relaxation time of a supercooled liquid.
The properties of nanoconfined fluids can be strikingly different from those of bulk liquids. A basic unanswered question is whether the equilibrium and dynamic consequences of confinement are related to each other in a simple way. We study this question by simulation of a liquid comprising asymmetric dumbbell-shaped molecules, which can be deeply supercooled without crystallizing. We find that the dimensionless structural relaxation times-spanning six decades as a function of temperature, density, and degree of confinement-collapse when plotted versus excess entropy. The data also collapse when plotted versus excess isochoric heat capacity, a behavior consistent with the existence of isomorphs in the bulk and confined states.
DNRF Centre "Glass and Time," IMFUFA, Department of Sciences, Roskilde University, Postbox 260, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark.
Trond S
TS
Ingebrigtsen
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14260, USA.
Jeffrey R
JR
Errington
McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering and Institute for Theoretical Chemistry, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA.
Thomas M
TM
Truskett
DNRF Centre "Glass and Time," IMFUFA, Department of Sciences, Roskilde University, Postbox 260, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark.
Jeppe C
JC
Dyre