First-order layering and critical wetting transitions in nonadditive hard-sphere mixtures

Abstract

Using fundamental-measure density functional theory we investigate entropic wetting in an asymmetric binary mixture of hard spheres with positive nonadditivity. We consider a general planar hard wall, where preferential adsorption is induced by a difference in closest approach of the different species and the wall. Close to bulk fluid-fluid coexistence, the phase rich in the minority component adsorbs either through a series of first-order layering transitions, where an increasing number of liquid layers adsorbs sequentially, or via a critical wetting transition, where a thick film grows continuously.