Specificity Switching Pathways in Thermal and Mass Evaporation of Multicomponent Hydrocarbon Droplets: A Mesoscopic Observation

For well over one century, the Hertz–Knudsen equation has established the relationship between thermal – mass transfer coefficients through a liquid – vapour interface and evaporation rate. These coefficients, however, have been often separately estimated for one-component equilibrium systems and their simultaneous influences on evaporation rate of fuel droplets in multicomponent systems have yet to be investigated at the atomic level. Here we first apply atomistic simulation techniques and quantum/statistical mechanics methods to understand how thermal and mass evaporation effects are controlled kinetically/thermodynamically. We then present a new development of a hybrid method of quantum transition state theory/improved kinetic gas theory, for multicomponent hydrocarbon systems to investigate how concerted-distinct conformational changes of hydrocarbons at the interface affect the evaporation rate. The results of this work provide an important physical concept in fundamental understanding of atomistic pathways in topological interface transitions of chain molecules, resolving an open problem in kinetics of fuel droplets evaporation.