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39.

Hard sphere fluids in random fiber networks M. Schmidt and J. M. Brader, J. Chem. Phys. 119, 3495 (2003). Locate in [bare] [illustrated] list. Get [full paper] as pdf. Abstract. We investigate an annealed hard sphere fluid in contact with a rigid, random fiber network modeled by quenched, vanishingly thin hard needles. For this model a quenched-annealed density functional theory is presented that treats arbitrary spatially inhomogeneous situations, in particular anisotropic and spatially varying needle distributions. As a test case we consider the structure of the hard sphere fluid at the surface of an isotropic fiber network and find good agreement of the theoretical density profiles with our computer simulation results. For high needle densities the surface acts like a rough impenetrable wall. In the limit of infinite needle density the behavior near a smooth hard wall is recovered. Results for the partition coefficient agree well with existing data. [figures] Read the [full paper] as pdf.

Fluid interfaces

Colloid-polymer mixtures display fluid-fluid interfaces [21] [44], relevant for laser-induced condensation [35], capillary condensation [43] and evaporation [48], immersion in porous media [41], the appearance of the floating liquid phase [52], the competition between sedimentation and phase coexistence [51], tension at a substrate [45], the experimental observation of thermal capillary waves [47], and the contact angle of the liquid-gas interface and a wall [50]. In colloidal rod-sphere mixtures fluid-fluid interfaces were investigated with theory [30] and simulation [42]. Hard sphere fluids were considered at surfaces of porous media [37], in random fiber networks [39], and in one dimensional cases [46].



Fluids in random media

The density functional theory for quenched-annealed mixtures [24] relates the quenched components to a random porous medium and the annealed components model to an adsorbate fluid (mixture). See [46] for the explicit relation to the the replica trick. Colloid-polymer mixtures were studied in bulk random matrices [32], exhibiting (gas-liquid) interfaces [41], and wetting properties at porous substrates [56]. Rods were immersed in quenched sphere matrices [54], and spheres were immersed in random fibre networks [39]. Freezing is hindered in the presence of disorder [38]. See [33] for the related non-equilibrium process of random sequential adsorption.



Hard spheres

The hard sphere system freezes between [2] and [3], and in ~[23] dimensions (tags as contents!), as well as on stripe-patterned substrates [26]. Deep relations to dimensional crossover exist [5] [6]. Hard spheres were immersed in emulsions [9], confined to a flexible container [18], exposed to surfaces of other quenched spheres [37] and of random fiber networks [39], and subject to gravity [51]. Recently, the Rosenfeld functional [5] [6] was generalized to non-additive mixtures [53].

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