Surface tension in bulk and bounded liquids

Abstract

The paper is aimed at theoretical studying the following problems and its relation to the available experimental data: 1) the coefficient of surface tension and capillary constant in bulk and spatially bounded liquids in a wide range of thermodynamic parameters (temperature, density, pressure, etc.), including the critical region; 2) influence of size effects on surface tension and capillary constant in liquids with a varying spatial dimensionality, namely from the “surface” 2D-state to the “bulk” 3D-state, and then to regular 4D-state where the fluctuation effects may be neglected in liquids like water with the Ginzburg number, Gi < 1; 3) comparison the obtained results and empirical approach to the water surface tension in a wide intervals of thermodynamic variables, including confined supercooled water; 4) medical application of results for surface tension, using similarity between processes of carcinogenesis and nucleation.The theoretical formulas are proposed for dependence of surface tension and capillary constant in bulk and confined liquids on temperature, density, pressure, and size variables in a wide vicinity of the critical region. The agreement of theoretical and experimental data for the temperature dependence of surface tension and capillary constant appears to be quite satisfactory. The 2D↔3D dimensional crossover for surface tension and capillary constant is analyzed. The surface tension of liquids with a relatively small Ginzburg number, including bulk water, is studied with taking into account the dimensionality crossover from 3D-systems to 4D-systems, where the Landau mean-field theory is valid. The empirical formula for surface tension of pure water is discussed together with the Tolman correction and the fluctuation theory of phase transitions. The consequences of the similarity hypothesis of nucleation and carcinogenesis are discussed.