Effect of Nanoslit Width on Isopropyl Alcohol Evaporation: A Molecular Dynamics Study

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed to investigate the effect of the nanoslit width on the evaporation behavior of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) molecules from nanoslits. The evaporation mass flux of IPA was calculated and found to decrease with decreasing nanoslit width. Since the evaporation rate is related to the saturated vapor pressure of the liquid, the evaporation mass flux of IPA depending on the nanoslit width was analyzed using the Kelvin equation, which describes the variation in saturated vapor pressure of the liquid confined within the slit. A comparison between the MD simulation results and the prediction of the Kelvin equation demonstrates that the change in the evaporation rate from nanoslit can be predicted by the Kelvin equation up to a lower limit of the slit width that can define the width of the liquid–vapor interface of IPA molecules within the nanoslit.