English

Nonequilibrium interfacial properties of chemically driven fluids

Soft Condensed Matter 2023-11-20 v2 Materials Science Statistical Mechanics

Abstract

Chemically driven fluids can demix to form condensed droplets that exhibit phase behaviors not observed at equilibrium. In particular, nonequilibrium interfacial properties can emerge when the chemical reactions are driven differentially between the interior and exterior of the phase-separated droplets. Here, we use a minimal model to study changes in the interfacial tension between coexisting phases away from equilibrium. Simulations of both droplet nucleation and interface roughness indicate that the nonequilibrium interfacial tension can either be increased or decreased relative to its equilibrium value, depending on whether the driven chemical reactions are accelerated or decelerated within the droplets. Finally, we show that these observations can be understood using a predictive theory based on an effective thermodynamic equilibrium.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2307.00579,
  title  = {Nonequilibrium interfacial properties of chemically driven fluids},
  author = {Yongick Cho and William M. Jacobs},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2307.00579},
  year   = {2023}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-28T11:20:04.969Z