Surface viscosity in simple liquids

The response of Newtonian liquids to small perturbations is usually considered to be fully described by homogeneous transport coefficients like shear and dilatational viscosity. However, the presence of strong density gradients at the liquid/vapor boundary of fluids hints at the possible existence o...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of chemical physics 2023-03, Vol.158 (11), p.114705-114705
Main Authors: Malgaretti, Paolo, Bafile, Ubaldo, Vallauri, Renzo, Jedlovszky, Pál, Sega, Marcello
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The response of Newtonian liquids to small perturbations is usually considered to be fully described by homogeneous transport coefficients like shear and dilatational viscosity. However, the presence of strong density gradients at the liquid/vapor boundary of fluids hints at the possible existence of an inhomogeneous viscosity. Here, we show that a surface viscosity emerges from the collective dynamics of interfacial layers in molecular simulations of simple liquids. We estimate the surface viscosity to be 8–16 times smaller than that of the bulk fluid at the thermodynamic point considered. This result can have important implications for reactions at liquid surfaces in atmospheric chemistry and catalysis.
ISSN:0021-9606
1089-7690
DOI:10.1063/5.0141971