Symmetry Breaking in Binary Mixtures in Closed Nanoslits *

The symmetry breaking (SB) of the fluid density distribution (FDD) in closed nanoslits between two identical parallel solid walls described by Berim and Ruckenstein [J. Chem. Phys. 128, 024704 (2008)] for a single component fluid is examined for binary mixtures on the basis of a nonlocal canonical ensemble density functional theory. As in Monte Carlo simulations, the periodicity of the FDD in one of the lateral (parallel to the wall surfaces) directions, denoted as the x direction, was assumed. In the other lateral direction, y direction, the FDD was considered to be uniform. The molecules of the two components have different diameters and their Lennard-Jones interaction potentials have different energy parameters. It was found that depending on the average fluid density in the slit and mixture composition, SB can occur for both or none of the components but never for only one of them. In the direction perpendicular to the walls (h direction), the FDDs of both components can be asymmetrical about the middle plane between walls. In the x direction, the SB occurs as bumps and bridges enriched in one of the components, whereas the composition of the mixture between them is enriched in the other component. The dependence of the SB states on the length L_x of the FDD period at fixed average densities of the two components was examined for L_x in the range from 10 to 120 molecular diameters of the smaller size component. It was shown that for large L_x, the stable state of the system corresponds to a bridge. Because the free energy of that state decreases monotonically with increasing L _x, one can conclude that the real period is very large (infinite) and that a single bridge exists in the slit. © 2008 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.2904880]