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In this work, molecular dynamics simulations are performed to estimate the equilibrium pressure of liquid confined in nanopores. The simulations show that the pressure is highly sensitive to the pore size and can significantly change from…
We present a versatile setup for investigating the nanofluidic behavior of nanoparticles as a function of the gap distance between two confining surfaces. The setup is designed as an open system which operates with small amounts of…
Computational studies of crystal nucleation can be impacted by finite size effects, primarily due to unphysical interactions between crystalline nuclei and their periodic images. It is, however, not always feasible to systematically…
We calculate analytically the phase diagram of a two-dimensional square crystal and its wrapped version with defects under external homogeneous stress as a function of temperature using a simple elastic lattice model that allows for defect…
The growth of crystals confined in porous or cellular materials is ubiquitous in Nature and industry. Confinement affects the formation of biominerals in living organisms, of minerals in the Earth's crust and of salt crystals damaging…
Molecular dynamics simulations are used to study capillary adhesion from a nanometer scale liquid bridge between two parallel flat solid surfaces. The capillary force and the meniscus shape of the bridge are computed as the separation…
It has been conjectured that roughness plays a role in surface nucleation, the tendency for freezing to begin preferentially at the liquid-gas interface. Using high speed imaging, we sought evidence for freezing at the contact line on…
The dielectric properties of a bulk dipolar liquid have been subjects of intense interest during the past decades. A surprising result was the discovery of a strong wavenumber dependence in the bulk homogeneous state. Such behaviour seems…
Crystallization pressure drives deformation and damage in monuments, buildings and the Earth's crust. Even though the phenomenon has been known for 170 years there is no agreement between theoretical calculations of the maximum attainable…
We study the phase transitions of a fluid confined in a capillary slit made from two adjacent walls each of which are a periodic composite of stripes of two different materials. For wide slits the capillary condensation occurs at a pressure…
Self-organized three-dimensional (3D) ion Coulomb crystals in linear Paul traps naturally form concentric shells that provide a curved, atomically resolved interface for studying two-dimensional (2D) nanofriction. Building on earlier…
Spatial confinement in nanoporous media affects the structure, thermodynamics and mobility of molecular soft matter often markedly. This article reviews thermodynamic equilibrium phenomena, such as physisorption, capillary condensation,…
We show that condensation in a capped capillary slit is a continuous interfacial critical phenomenon, related intimately to several other surface phase transitions. In three dimensions (3d), the adsorption and desorption branches correspond…
We recently found that crystallization of monodisperse hard spheres from the bulk fluid faces a much higher free energy barrier in four than in three dimensions at equivalent supersaturation, due to the increased geometrical frustration…
The kinetics and thermodynamics of structural transformations under pressure depend strongly on particle size due to the influence of surface free energy. By suitable design of surface structure, composition, and passivation it is possible,…
Salt crystallization is a major cause of weathering of artworks, monuments and rocks. Damage will occur if crystals continue to grow in confinement, i.e. within the pore space of these materials generating mechanical stresses. We report on…
Bulk water presents a large number of crystalline and amorphous ices. Hydrophobic nanoconfinement is known to affect the tendency of water to form ice and to reduce the melting temperature. However, a systematic study of the ice phases in…
The influence of geometry on the local and global packing of particles is important to many fundamental and applied research themes such as the structure and stability of liquids, crystals and glasses. Here, we show by experiments and…
We review here the physics of capillary condensation of liquids in confined media, with a special regard to the application in nanotechnologies. The thermodynamics of capillary condensation and thin film adsorption are first exposed along…
We report on the modeling of the formation of a cavity at the surface of crystals confined by a flat wall during growth in solution. Using a continuum thin film model, we discuss two phenomena that could be observed when decreasing the…