Area dependence of the surface tension of a Lennard-Jones fluid from molecular dynamics simulations

Molecular dynamics simulations are used to study the structure of the vapor–liquid interface of three-dimensional fluids. Particles interact via a truncated Lennard-Jones pair potential in the absence of external fields. The effect of the surface area on the surface tension is investigated. It is found that the surface tension increases with the decrease of the surface area. However, this finite-size effect is pronounced only in small surface areas. In addition, our simulation results show that the finite-size correction of the surface tension is directly proportional to the reciprocal of the surface area, in accord with the prediction of the Gaussian model of capillary waves.