Predicting How Nanoconfinement Changes the Relaxation Time of a Supercooled Liquid

Trond Ingebrigtsen, Jeff Errington, Tom Truskett, J. C. Dyre

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

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.
Original languageEnglish
Article number235901
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume111
Number of pages6
ISSN0031-9007
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2013

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