Fluid phase interface properties of acetone, oxygen, nitrogen and their binary mixtures by molecular simulation.

Vapor-liquid equilibria (VLE) of the pure substances acetone, oxygen and nitrogen as well as their binary mixtures are studied by molecular dynamics (MD) simulation with a direct approach. Thereby, particular attention is paid to the interface behavior on the molecular level, yielding total and partial density profiles as well as surface tension data. The classical approach by van der Waals is used to analyze the total density profiles. It is found that an extended function is needed to describe those profiles for the mixtures containing acetone, due to the strong adsorption of the volatile component at the vapor side of the interface. Based on these representations the interface thickness is studied. The surface tension results are compared to experimental data, correlations thereof and results from other molecular approaches. Due to the scarcity of experiments, the parachor method is employed to obtain predictive surface tension data for the mixtures. Following the same approach, the present surface tension results are correlated for the mixtures containing acetone.