Molecular Thermodynamics of Complex Systems

With the development of science and technology, more and more complex materials such as porous materials, ion liquid, liquid crystals, thin ? lms and colloids etc. are being developed in laboratories. However, it is dif? cult to prepare these advanced materials and use them on a large scale without some experience. Therefore, mo- cular thermodynamics, a method that laid emphasis on correlating and interpreting the thermodynamic properties of a variety of ? uids in the past, has been recently employed to study the equilibrium properties of complex materials and establish thermodynamic models to analyse the evolution process of their components, - crostructures and functions during the preparation process. In this volume, some important progress in this ? eld, from fundamental aspects to practical applications, is reviewed. In the ? rst chapter of this volume, Prof. Jianzhong Wu presents the application of Density Functional theory (DFT) for the study of the structure and thermodynamic properties of both bulk and inhomogeneous ? uids. This chapter presents a tut- ial overview of the basic concepts of DFT for classical systems, the mathematical relations linking the microstructure and correlation functions to measurable th- modynamic quantities, and the connections of DFT with conventional liquid-state theories. While for pedagogythe discussion is limited to one-componentsimple - ids, similar ideas and concepts are directly applicable to mixtures and polymeric systems of practical concern. This chapter also covers a few theoretical approaches to formulate the thermodynamic functional.