Density-functional theory for inhomogeneous fluids: Application to wetting

Abstract

A density functional for inhomogeneous single-component fluids capable of describing both the short-range structure as well as coexistence phenomena such as wetting and drying is derived. The formalism utilizes a coarse-grained reference density ${n}_{0}$(r\ensuremath{\rightarrow}) in addition to the full density n(r\ensuremath{\rightarrow}). Equilibrium profiles are obtained by finding the extrema of the density functional with respect to both densities. Density profiles for a Lennard-Jones fluid at both a hard wall and a 3-9 wall near the complete wetting transition are presented.