The computation of Kirkwood-Buff integrals (KBIs) using molecular simulations of closed systems is challenging due to finite system-size effects. One of the problems involves the incorrect asymptotic behavior of the radial distribution function. Corrections to rectify such effects have been proposed in the literature. This study reports a systematic comparison of the proposed corrections (as given by Ganguly et al. J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2013, 9, 1347-1355 and Krüger et al. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2013, 4, 4-7) to assess the asymptotic behavior of the RDFs, the KBIs, as well as the estimation of thermodynamic quantities for ideal urea-water and nonideal modified-urea-water mixtures using molecular dynamics simulations. The results show that applying the KBI correction suggested by Krüger et al. on the RDF corrected with the Ganguly et al. correction (denoted as B-KBI) yields improved KBI convergence for the ideal and nonideal aqueous mixtures. Different averaging regions in the running KBIs (correlated or long-range) are assessed, and averaging over the correlated region for large system sizes is found to be robust toward the change in the degree of solvent nonideality and concentration, providing good estimates of thermodynamic quantities. The study provides new insights into improving the KBI convergence, the suitability of different averaging regions in KBIs to estimate thermodynamic properties, as well as the applicability of correction methods to achieve KBI convergence for nonideal aqueous binary mixtures.
When droplets of nanoparticle suspension evaporate from surfaces, they leave behind a deposit of nanoparticles. The mechanism of evaporation-induced pattern formation in the deposit is studied by molecular dynamics simulations for sessile nanodroplets. The influence of the interaction between nanoparticles and liquid molecules and the influence of the evaporation rate on the final deposition pattern are addressed. When the nanoparticle-liquid interaction is weaker than the liquid-liquid interaction, an interaction-driven or evaporation-induced layer of nanoparticles appears at the liquid-vapor interface and eventually collapses onto the solid surface to form a uniform deposit independently of the evaporation rate. When the nanoparticle-liquid and liquid-liquid interactions are comparable, the nanoparticles are dispersed inside the droplet and evaporation takes place with the contact line pinned at a surface defect. In such a case, a pattern with an approximate ring-like shape is found with fast evaporation, while a more uniform distribution is observed with slower evaporation. When the liquid-nanoparticle interaction is stronger than the liquid-liquid interaction, evaporation always occurs with receding contact line. The final deposition pattern changes from volcano-like to pancake-like with decreasing evaporation rate. These findings might help to design nanoscale structures like nanopatterns or nanowires on surface through controlled solvent evaporation.
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