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Solvent fluctuations around solvophobic, solvophilic and patchy nanostructures and the accompanying solvent mediated interactions

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journal contribution
posted on 2017-03-22, 09:51 authored by Blesson Chacko, Robert Evans, Andrew ArcherAndrew Archer
Using classical density functional theory (DFT) we calculate the density profile ρ(r) and local compressibility χ(r) of a simple liquid solvent in which a pair of blocks with (microscopic) rectangular cross-section are immersed. We consider blocks that are solvophobic, solvophilic and also ones that have both solvophobic and solvophilic patches. Large values of χ(r) correspond to regions in space where the liquid density is fluctuating most strongly. We seek to elucidate how enhanced density fluctuations correlate with the solvent mediated force between the blocks, as the distance between the blocks and the chemical potential of the liquid reservoir vary. For sufficiently solvophobic blocks, at small block separations and small deviations from bulk gas-liquid coexistence, we observe a strongly attractive (near constant) force, stemming from capillary evaporation to form a low density gas-like intrusion between the blocks. The accompanying χ(r) exhibits structure which reflects the incipient gas-liquid interfaces that develop. We argue that our model system provides a means to understanding the basic physics of solvent mediated interactions between nanostructures, and between objects such as proteins in water, that possess hydrophobic and hydrophilic patches.

Funding

BC acknowledges the support of EPSRC and the work of RE was supported by a Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship: EM-2016-031.

History

School

  • Science

Department

  • Mathematical Sciences

Published in

Journal of Chemical Physics

Volume

146

Issue

12

Citation

CHACKO, B., EVANS, R. and ARCHER, A.J., 2017. Solvent fluctuations around solvophobic, solvophilic and patchy nanostructures and the accompanying solvent mediated interactions. The Journal of Chemical Physics, 146 (12), 124703.

Publisher

© The Authors. Published by AIP Publishing.

Version

  • AM (Accepted Manuscript)

Publisher statement

This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Acceptance date

2017-02-26

Publication date

2017-03-22

Copyright date

2017

Notes

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: CHACKO, B., EVANS, R. and ARCHER, A.J., 2017. Solvent fluctuations around solvophobic, solvophilic and patchy nanostructures and the accompanying solvent mediated interactions. The Journal of Chemical Physics, 146 (12), 124703, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4978352.

ISSN

0021-9606

eISSN

1089-7690

Language

  • en

Article number

124703.