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Title: Solid-liquid work of adhesion of coarse-grained models of n-hexane on graphene layers derived from the conditional reversible work method

Journal Article · · Journal of Chemical Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4936253· OSTI ID:22493378
;  [1];
  1. Eduard-Zintl-Institut für Anorganische und Physikalische Chemie, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Alarich-Weiss-Strasse 4, 64287 Darmstadt (Germany)

We address the question of how reducing the number of degrees of freedom modifies the interfacial thermodynamic properties of heterogeneous solid-liquid systems. We consider the example of n-hexane interacting with multi-layer graphene which we model both with fully atomistic and coarse-grained (CG) models. The CG models are obtained by means of the conditional reversible work (CRW) method. The interfacial thermodynamics of these models is characterized by the solid-liquid work of adhesion W{sub SL} calculated by means of the dry-surface methodology through molecular dynamics simulations. We find that the CRW potentials lead to values of W{sub SL} that are larger than the atomistic ones. Clear understanding of the relationship between the structure of n-hexane in the vicinity of the surface and W{sub SL} is elucidated through a detailed study of the energy and entropy components of W{sub SL}. We highlight the crucial role played by the solid-liquid energy fluctuations. Our approach suggests that CG potentials should be designed in such a way that they preserve the range of solid-liquid interaction energies, but also their fluctuations in order to preserve the reference atomistic value of W{sub SL}. Our study thus opens perspectives into deriving CG interaction potentials that preserve the thermodynamics of solid-liquid contacts and will find application in studies that intend to address materials driven by interfaces.

OSTI ID:
22493378
Journal Information:
Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 143, Issue 24; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-9606
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English