Density Functional Theory Predictions of Derivative Thermodynamic Properties of a Confined Fluid

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Gor, Gennady Y., Jomon, Geordy, Kolesnikov, Andrei L.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Gor, Gennady Y.
Jomon, Geordy
Kolesnikov, Andrei L.
author_facet Gor, Gennady Y.
Jomon, Geordy
Kolesnikov, Andrei L.
contents Fluids in nanopores are of importance for many engineering applications, including energy storage in supercapacitors, hydrocarbons recovery from unconventional sources, or water desalination. Thermodynamic properties of fluids confined in nanopores differ from the properties of the same fluids in bulk. Density functional theory (DFT) has been widely used for modeling thermodynamics of confined fluids. However, it is rarely used for calculations of derivative thermodynamic properties. Here we use a rather simple DFT model for argon based on the Percus-Yevick equation, and showed that with standard parametrization it fails to predict derivative properties. However, slight adjustment in parameters leads to quantitative predictions of isothermal compressibility and thermal expansion coefficient at a selected temperature. Using the adjusted parameterization we performed the calculations of compressibility of argon confined in carbon slit pores of various sizes, and demonstrated that the compressibility of argon in confinement is lower than that in bulk and is pore size dependent. We confirmed the DFT predictions using the Monte Carlo molecular simulations. In addition to isothermal compressibility, we calculated the thermal expansion coefficient of confined argon. Our calculations showed that it behaves similar to compressibility -- it is always lower than the bulk value and gradually increases for smaller pore sizes. For several selected pore sizes we verified the DFT calculations by Monte Carlo simulations. Overall, our results suggest that the classical DFT can be utilized for calculations of derivative thermodynamic properties of confined fluids, which are computationally challenging to predict using molecular simulations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_21111
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Density Functional Theory Predictions of Derivative Thermodynamic Properties of a Confined Fluid
Gor, Gennady Y.
Jomon, Geordy
Kolesnikov, Andrei L.
Chemical Physics
Soft Condensed Matter
Statistical Mechanics
Fluids in nanopores are of importance for many engineering applications, including energy storage in supercapacitors, hydrocarbons recovery from unconventional sources, or water desalination. Thermodynamic properties of fluids confined in nanopores differ from the properties of the same fluids in bulk. Density functional theory (DFT) has been widely used for modeling thermodynamics of confined fluids. However, it is rarely used for calculations of derivative thermodynamic properties. Here we use a rather simple DFT model for argon based on the Percus-Yevick equation, and showed that with standard parametrization it fails to predict derivative properties. However, slight adjustment in parameters leads to quantitative predictions of isothermal compressibility and thermal expansion coefficient at a selected temperature. Using the adjusted parameterization we performed the calculations of compressibility of argon confined in carbon slit pores of various sizes, and demonstrated that the compressibility of argon in confinement is lower than that in bulk and is pore size dependent. We confirmed the DFT predictions using the Monte Carlo molecular simulations. In addition to isothermal compressibility, we calculated the thermal expansion coefficient of confined argon. Our calculations showed that it behaves similar to compressibility -- it is always lower than the bulk value and gradually increases for smaller pore sizes. For several selected pore sizes we verified the DFT calculations by Monte Carlo simulations. Overall, our results suggest that the classical DFT can be utilized for calculations of derivative thermodynamic properties of confined fluids, which are computationally challenging to predict using molecular simulations.
title Density Functional Theory Predictions of Derivative Thermodynamic Properties of a Confined Fluid
topic Chemical Physics
Soft Condensed Matter
Statistical Mechanics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.21111