Simulation and theoretical study of immiscible binary fluids with particles

In recent studies, the addition of inorganic materials has been attempted to improve the physical properties of polymer blends. To achieve superior physical properties, it is important to control the dispersion of the inorganic materials. The present study investigates the behavior of small particles added to immiscible binary fluids using simulation and theory.
In the present simulation, the dynamics of the fluids is described by Cahn-Hilliard and Navier-Stokes equations. The particle-fluid interaction is described using the Smoothed Profile Method [1]. Using the simulation, the authors investigate the dispersion of particles in the fluids, changing the wetting interaction between fluids and particles. The present theory is based on the theory of Ginzburg et al. [2]. The present authors extend the theory of Ginzburg so that it can treat the particles being trapped at the fluid-fluid interface. By comparing the simulation and theoretical results, the authors obtain insight into the particle dynamics during the phase separation process.

[1] Y. Nakayama and R. Yamamoto, Phys. Rev. E, 71, 036707 (2005).
[2] V. V. Ginzburg, et al., Phys. Rev. E, 63, 4352 (1999).