A patching model for surface tension of spherical droplet and Tolman length. II

In the framework of density functional theory (DFT), two patching models for the density profile of spherical liquid droplet are developed. The patching is based on analytical expressions of the asymptote of the density profiles. The first model leads to analytic expressions of the Tolman length and the effective rigidity constant, from which the temperature dependence of the Tolman length and effective rigidity constant can be determined. The second model is developed particularly for small spherical droplets, from which the dependence of chemical potential and the surface tension of the droplet on the radius are obtained. The results are compared with numerical DFT calculations. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-9606(99)51847-3].