A comparison study of phase-field models for an immiscible binary mixture with surfactant

Y. Li, J. Kim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The Ginzburg-Landau free energy functional with two order parameters has been widely used to describe surfactant adsorption phenomena at the interface between two immiscible fluids such as oil and water. To model surfactant adsorption, additional surfactant related terms are added to the original free energy functional which models an immiscible binary mixture. In this paper, we present a detailed comparison of phase-field models for an immiscible binary mixture with surfactant. In particular, we investigate the effects of mathematical model parameters on equilibrium surfactant profile across the interface between the immiscible binary mixture. Most previous models have severe time-step constraints due to the nonlinear coupling of order parameters. To solve these stability problems, we propose a special case of these models which allows the use of a much larger time-step size. We also apply a type of unconditionally gradient stable scheme and a fast multigrid method to solve the proposed model efficiently and accurately.

Original languageEnglish
Article number340
JournalEuropean Physical Journal B
Volume85
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012 Oct

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A comparison study of phase-field models for an immiscible binary mixture with surfactant'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this