The Lattice Model of Particles with Orientation-Dependent Interactions at Solid Surfaces: Wetting Scenarios

Abstract

Wetting phenomena in a lattice model of particles having two chemically different halves (A and B) and being in contact with solid substrates have been studied with Monte Carlo methods. The energy of the interaction between a pair of neighboring particles has been assumed to depend on the degree to which the AA, AB and BB regions face each other. In this work, we have assumed that uAA=−1.0 and considered three series of systems with uAB=uBB, uAB=0 and uBB=0. The phase behavior of bulk systems has been determined. In particular, it has been shown that at sufficiently low temperatures the bulk systems order into the superantiferromagnetic (SAF) phase, or into the antiferromagnetic (AF) phase, depending on the magnitudes of AA, AB and BB interaction energies, uAA, uAB and uBB. The SAF structure occurs whenever ϵ=uAA+uBB−2uAB is lower than zero and the AF structure is stable when ϵ is greater than zero. The wetting behavior has been demonstrated to depend strongly on the structure of the bulk condensed phase, the interactions between fluid particles and the strength of the surface potential. In all series, we have found the dewetting transition, resulting from the limited stability of different ordered structures of surface phases. However, in the systems that exhibit the gas–liquid transition in the bulk, the reentrant wetting transition has been observed at sufficiently high temperatures. The mechanism of dewetting and reentrant wetting transitions has been determined. Moreover, we have also demonstrated, how the dewetting transition in the series with uAB=0 is affected by the wall selectivity, i.e., when the interaction between the parts A and B of fluid particles and the solid is different.