Interfacial properties of inhomogeneous fluids for a smooth profile

Abstract

We analyze single- and multi-component simple fluids in a liquid-vapor coexistence state, which forms an arbitrarily curved interface. Using an analytical approach, based upon density functional theory, we perform a power series expansion of the density profile on the principal curvatures to calculate the grand potential that represents the free energy of the system. In addition, we derive microscopic expressions for the interfacial properties. All results are in good agreement with other viewpoints at the level of surface tension and spontaneous curvature.