Viscous properties of isotropic fluids composed of linear molecules: Departure from the classical Navier-Stokes theory in nano-confined geometries

Abstract

In this paper we present equilibrium molecular-dynamics results for the shear, rotational, and spin viscosities for fluids composed of linear molecules. The density dependence of the shear viscosity follows a stretched exponential function, whereas the rotational viscosity and the spin viscosities show approximately power-law dependencies. The frequency-dependent shear and spin viscosities are also studied. It is found that viscoelastic behavior is first manifested in the shear viscosity and that the real part of the spin viscosities features a maximum for nonzero frequency. The calculated transport coefficients are used together with the extended Navier-Stokes equations to investigate the effect of the coupling between the intrinsic angular momentum and linear momentum for highly confined fluids. Both steady and oscillatory flows are studied. It is shown, for example, that the fluid flow rate for Poiseuille flow is reduced by up to 10% in a 2 nm channel for a buta-triene fluid at density 236 kg m-3 and temperature 306 K. The coupling effect may, therefore, become very important for nanofluidic applications. © 2009 The American Physical Society.