The effect of steepness of soft-core square-well potential model on some fluid properties

Abstract

The effect of repulsive steepness of the soft-core square well (SCSW) potential model on the second virial coefficient, critical behaviour (two- phase region and the position of critical point), and coordination number are investigated. The soft-core thermodynamic perturbation theory (TPT) presented by Weeks-Chandler-Anderson (WCA) recently developed by Ben-Amotz and Stell (BAS) has been used for the reference system, and the Barker-Henderson TPT for the perturbed system. The Barker-Henderson macroscopic compressibility approximation has been used for all order perturbation terms in which the second-order one is improved by assuming that the molecules in every two neighbouring shells are correlated upon the original assumption. By using the hard-sphere isothermal compressibility consistency for the radial distribution function (RDF), an analytical closed expression has been derived for the Helmholtz free energy function contained effective hard-sphere diameter. The accuracy of the model has been examined for the hard-core system, and an appropriate range found for the attractive width of the potential well (R), then the effect of steepness parameter on the critical quantities, coordination number, and the inversion temperature of the second virial coefficient, has been investigated qualitatively. The predicted results are in good agreement with the computer simulation data for the critical constants, and coordination number at the limit of the hard-core square-well potential model at least qualitatively, and for the attractive range 1.55 ≤ R ≤ 1.7, quantitatively. It was found that the steepness of the potential model has a marginal effect on the critical behaviour, and also every thermodynamic quantity at low and medium temperatures for which the molecular penetration is negligible, but since the penetration at high temperatures is significant, the role of the steepness of potential on the inversion temperature of the second virial coefficient and coordination number is highlighted.