Liquids confined in wedge shaped pores: nonuniform pressure induced by pore geometry.

Lennard-Jones liquids confined in wedge shaped nanopores are investigated using molecular dynamics computer simulations. We show that small deviations from the parallel slit geometry result in nonuniform pressures and density profiles along the pore. In conditions of high confinement and thermodynamic states close to the triple point, wedge shaped pores can induce the formation of solid phases in specific regions within the nanopore. (c) 2004 American Institute of Physics.