Thermally excited capillary waves at vapor/liquid interfaces of water-alcohol mixtures

Journal Article · Mon Feb 02 04:00:00 EST 2009 · Journal of Physics. Condensed Matter

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-8984/21/11/115105· OSTI ID:1005468

Vaknin, David ^[1]; Bu, Wei ^[1]; Sung, Jaeho ^[2]; Jeon, Yoonnam ^[2]; Kim, Doseok ^[2]

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1. Ames Lab., Ames, IA (United States); Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)
2. Sogang Univ., Seoul (Korea)

The density profiles of liquid/vapor interfaces of water–alcohol (methanol, ethanol and propanol) mixtures were studied by surface-sensitive synchrotron x-ray scattering techniques. X-ray reflectivity and diffuse scattering measurements, from the pure and mixed liquids, were analyzed in the framework of capillary wave theory to address the characteristic length scales of the intrinsic roughness and the shortest capillary wavelength (alternatively, the upper wavevector cutoff in capillary wave theory). Our results establish that the intrinsic roughness is dominated by average interatomic distances. The extracted effective upper wavevector cutoff indicates capillary wave theory breaks down at distances of the order of bulk correlation lengths.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-07CH11358; W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 1005468
• Journal Information: Journal of Physics. Condensed Matter, Journal Name: Journal of Physics. Condensed Matter Journal Issue: (11) ; 03, 2009 Vol. 21; ISSN 0953-8984
• Publisher: IOP Publishing
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: ENGLISH

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY