Fluids density functional theory

An attempt to provide a rationale to the features related to the self-assembly has been reported in a recent paper that has faced the investigation of thermodynamic parameters, in particular entropic terms, which are drivers for the polymer nanopardcle self-assembly, with a theoredcal approach based on fluids density functional theory (DFT) calculations [12]. 

Density functional theory from statistical mechanics is a means to describe the thermodynamics of the solid phase with information about the fluid [17-19]. In density functional theory, one makes an ansatz about the structure of the solid, usually describing the particle positions by Gaussian distributions around their lattice sites. The free... 

The entropically driven disorder-order transition in hard-sphere fluids was originally discovered in computer simulations [58, 59]. The development of colloidal suspensions behaving as hard spheres (i.e., having negligible Hamaker constants, see Section VI-3) provided the means to experimentally verify the transition. Experimental data on the nucleation of hard-sphere colloidal crystals [60] allows one to extract the hard-sphere solid-liquid interfacial tension, 7 = 0.55 0.02k T/o, where a is the hard-sphere diameter [61]. This value agrees well with that found from density functional theory, 7 = 0.6 0.02k r/a 2 [21] (Section IX-2A). 

Kierlik E and Rosinberg M L 1993 Perturbation density functional theory for polyatomic fluids III application to hard chain molecules in slitlike pores J Chem. Phys. 100 1716... 

The present chapter is organized as follows. We focus first on a simple model of a nonuniform associating fluid with spherically symmetric associative forces between species. This model serves us to demonstrate the application of so-called first-order (singlet) and second-order (pair) integral equations for the density profile. Some examples of the solution of these equations for associating fluids in contact with structureless and crystalline solid surfaces are presented. Then we discuss one version of the density functional theory for a model of associating hard spheres. All aforementioned issues are discussed in Sec. II. 

Fig. 10(a) presents a comparison of computer simulation data with the predictions of both density functional theories presented above [144]. The computations have been carried out for e /k T = 7 and for a bulk fluid density equal to pi, = 0.2098. One can see that the contact profiles, p(z = 0), obtained by different methods are quite similar and approximately equal to 0.5. We realize that the surface effects extend over a wide region, despite the very simple and purely repulsive character of the particle-wall potential. However, the theory of Segura et al. [38,39] underestimates slightly the range of the surface zone. On the other hand, the modified Meister-Kroll-Groot theory [145] leads to a more correct picture. 

We shall illustrate the applicability of the GvdW(S) functional above by considering the case of gas-liquid surface tension for the Lennard-Jones fluid. This will also introduce the variational principle by which equilibrium properties are most efficiently found in a density functional theory. Suppose we assume the profile to be of step function shape, i.e., changing abruptly from liquid to gas density at a plane. In this case the binding energy integrals in Ey can be done analytically and we get for the surface tension [9]... 

Density-functional theory is best known as the basis for electronic structure calculations. A variant of this theory can be used to calculate the structure of inhomogeneous fluids [35] the free energy of the fluid is expressed as a functional of the density of the various components a theorem asserts that this functional attains its minimum for the true density profiles. 

The three main approaches based on the single-particle density are the density functional theory (DFT), quantum fluid dynamics (QFD), and studying the properties of a system through local quantities in 3D space. In this chapter, we present simple discussions on certain conceptual and methodological aspects of the single-particle density for details, the reader may consult the references listed at the end of this chapter. 

For completeness, we need to point out that the name density functional theory is not solely applied to the type of quantum mechanics calculations we have described in this chapter. The idea of casting problems using functionals of density has also been used in the classical theory of fluid thermodynamics. In this case, the density of interest is the fluid density not the electron density, and the basic equation of interest is not the Schrodinger equation. Realizing that these two distinct scientific communities use the same name for their methods may save you some confusion if you find yourself in a seminar by a researcher from the other community. 

In the density functional theory, the structure and thermodynamics of confined fluids are predicted from the intermolecular potentials of the fluid-fluid and solid-fluid interactions To... 

The second contribution spans an even larger range of length and times scales. Two benchmark examples illustrate the design approach polymer electrolyte fuel cells and hard disk drive (HDD) systems. In the current HDDs, the read/write head flies about 6.5 nm above the surface via the air bearing design. Multi-scale modeling tools include quantum mechanical (i.e., density functional theory (DFT)), atomistic (i.e., Monte Carlo (MC) and molecular dynamics (MD)), mesoscopic (i.e., dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) and lattice Boltzmann method (LBM)), and macroscopic (i.e., LBM, computational fluid mechanics, and system optimization) levels. 

The density functional theory of Hohenberg, Kohn and Sham [173,205] has become the standard formalism for first-principles calculations of the electronic structure of extended systems. Kohn and Sham postulate a model state described by a singledeterminant wave function whose electronic density function is identical to the ground-state density of an interacting /V-clcctron system. DFT theory is based on Hohenberg-Kohn theorems, which show that the external potential function v(r) of an //-electron system is determined by its ground-state electron density. The theory can be extended to nonzero temperatures by considering a statistical electron density defined by Fermi-Dirac occupation numbers [241], The theory is also easily extended to the spin-indexed density characteristic of UHF theory and of the two-fluid model of spin-polarized metals [414],... 

Integral equation methods provide another approach, but their use is limited to potential models that are usually too simple for engineering use and are moreover numerically difficult to solve. They are useful in providing equations of state for certain simple reference fluids (e.g., hard spheres, dipolar hard spheres, charged hard spheres) that can then be used in the perturbation theories or density functional theories. 

The principal tools have been density functional theory and computer simulation, especially grand canonical Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics [17-19]. Typical phase diagrams for a simple Lennard-Jones fluid and for a binary mixture of Lennard-Jones fluids confined within cylindrical pores of various diameters are shown in Figs. 9 and 10, respectively. Also shown in Fig. 10 is the vapor-liquid phase diagram for the bulk fluid (i.e., a pore of infinite radius). In these examples, the walls are inert and exert only weak forces on the molecules, which themselves interact weakly. Nevertheless,... 

Figure 10. Vapor-liquid equilibria for an argon-krypton mixture (modeled as a Lennard-Jones mixture) for the bulk fluid (R = >) and for a cylindrical pore of radius R = / /Oaa = 2.5. The dotted and dashed lines are from a crude form of density functional theory (the local density approximation, LDA). The points and solid lines are molecular dynamics results for the pore. Reprinted with permission from W. L. Jorgensen and J. Tirado-Rives, J. Am. Chem. Soc.

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