Phase equilibria in polydisperse nonadditive hard-sphere systems

Abstract

Colloidal particles naturally exhibit a size polydispersity that can greatly influence their phase behavior in solution. Nonadditive hard-sphere (NAHS) mixtures are simple and well-suited model systems to represent phase transitions in colloid systems. Here, we propose an analytical equation of state (EOS) for NAHS fluid mixtures, which can be straightforwardly applied to polydisperse systems. For positive values of the nonadditivity parameter Delta the model gives accurate predictions of the simulated fluid-fluid coexistence curves and compressibility factors. NPT Monte Carlo simulations of the mixing properties of the NAHS symmetric binary mixture with Delta>0 are reported. It is shown that the enthalpy of mixing is largely positive and overcomes the positive entropy of mixing when the pressure is increased, leading to a fluid-fluid phase transition with a lower critical solution pressure. Phase equilibria in polydisperse systems are predicted with the model by using the density moment formalism [P. Sollich, Adv. Chem. Phys. 116, 265 (2001)]. We present predictions of the cloud and shadow curves for polydisperse NAHS systems composed of monodisperse spheres and polydisperse colloid particles. A fixed nonadditivity parameter Delta > 0 is assumed between the monodisperse and polydisperse spheres, and a Schulz distribution is used to represent the size polydispersity. Polydispersity is found to increase the extent of the immiscibility region. The predicted cloud and shadow curves depend dramatically on the upper cutoff diameter sigmac of the Schulz distribution, and three-phase equilibria can occur for large values of sigmac.