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On the Thermodynamic Stability of Liquid Capillary Bridges
Author(s) -
Elliott Janet Aw,
Voitcu Ovidiu
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the canadian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1939-019X
pISSN - 0008-4034
DOI - 10.1002/cjce.5450850516
Subject(s) - capillary action , capillary condensation , condensation , thermodynamic equilibrium , thermodynamics , thermodynamic system , thermodynamic process , material properties , materials science , chemistry , physics , adsorption
Capillary condensation is important in the behaviour of various materials encountered in nature and in industrial processes. The behaviour of liquid capillary bridges has mostly been investigated from a mechanical perspective, with an emphasis on computing the relevant adhesion forces. In the present paper, a thermodynamic approach is used, computing the free energy of such systems (based on numerically constructed shapes of liquid bridges) in order to determine the nature and properties of their equilibrium states. The dependence of the thermodynamic equilibrium configurations on the geometry of the system is investigated, and comparisons are made with experimental findings reported in the literature.