Molecular dynamics simulations of the surface tension of ionic liquids

Abstract

We report molecular dynamics computer simulations of the surface tension and interfacial thickness of ionic liquid-vapor interfaces modeled with a soft core primitive model potential. We find that the surface tension shows an anomalous oscillatory behavior with interfacial area. This observation is discussed in terms of finite size effects introduced by the periodic boundary conditions employed in computer simulations. Otherwise we show that the thickness of the liquid-vapor interface increases with surface area as predicted by the capillary wave theory. Data on the surface tension of size-asymmetric ionic liquids are reported and compared with experimental data of molten salts. Our data suggest that the surface tensions of size-asymmetric ionic liquids do not follow a corresponding states law.