Andrienko, D.Patricio, PedroVinogradova, O. I.2014-05-302014-05-302004-09-01ANDRIENKO, D.; PATRICIO, P.; VINOGRADOVA, O.I. - Capillary bridging and long-range attractive forces in a mean-field approach. Journal of Chemical Physics. ISSN 0021-9606. Vol. 121, nr 9 (2004), p. 4414-4423.0021-960610.1063/1.1778154http://hdl.handle.net/10400.21/3588When a mixture is confined, one of the phases can condense out. This condensate, which is otherwise metastable in the bulk, is stabilized by the presence of surfaces. In a sphere-plane geometry, routinely used in atomic force microscope and surface force apparatus, it, can form a bridge connecting the surfaces. The pressure drop in the bridge gives rise to additional long-range attractive forces between them. By minimizing the free energy of a binary mixture we obtain the force-distance curves as well as the structural phase diagram of the configuration with the bridge. Numerical results predict a discontinuous transition between the states with and without the bridge and linear force-distance curves with hysteresis. We also show that similar phenomenon can be observed in a number of different systems, e.g., liquid crystals and polymer mixtures. (C). 2004 American Institute of Physics.engHydrophobic surfacesDissolved-gasElectrolyte solutionsAqueous-electrolyteOptical cavitationNonwetting liquidPhase-transitionsWaterCondensationNanobubblesjournal article