Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Slip on Curved Surfaces

Abstract

We present Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations of liquid water confined within nanoscale geometries, including slit-like and cylindrical graphitic pores. These equilibrium results are used for calculating friction coefficients, which in turn can be used to calculate slip lengths. The slip length is a material property independent of the fluid flow rate. It is therefore a better quantity for study than the fluid velocity at the wall, also known as the slip velocity. Once the slip length has been found as a function of surface curvature, it can be used to parameterise Lattice Boltzmann (LB) simulations. These larger scale simulations are able to tell us about how fluid transport is affected by slip in complex geometries; not just limited to single pores. Applications include flow and transport in nano-porous engine valve deposits and gas shales. The friction coefficient is found to be a function of curvature and is higher for fluid on convex surfaces and lower for concave surfaces. Both concave and convex surfaces approach the same value of the friction coefficient, which is constant above some critical radius of curvature, here found to be 7.4 ± 2.9 nm. The constant value of the friction coefficient is 10,000 ± 600 kg m−2 s−1 , which is equivalent to a slip length of approximately 67 ± 4 nm.