Bulk and interfacial wetting properties of binary liquid mixtures

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Abstract
We classify the interfacial wetting behavior of binary liquid mixtures at their liquid-vapor interface. The criteria with respect to the atomic interactions between the two species are whether the Hamaker constant of that interface fulfills either sufficient conditions for the absence of a wetting transition, or the necessary conditions for critical wetting, or the necessary conditions either for being wet already at low temperatures or for undergoing a first-order wetting transition upon approaching the critical end point along the triple line. Based on the Blume-Emery-Griffiths model and on the Percus-Yevick theory we scan the parameter space that determines the structure of the bulk phase diagrams. By analyzing the absolute values of the Hamaker constant we pay particular attention to interfacial wetting induced by tricritical points. In addition, we compare the predictions of the Percus-Yevick theory for the bulk phase diagrams and the number densities of the fluid bulk phases with experimental and simulation data as well as with different theoretical approaches.