A Kirkwood–Buff analysis of local properties of solutions

Abstract

For decades, the properties of liquid mixtures have been analyzed in terms of excess thermodynamic functions. These functions convey global or macroscopic information on the system. In this work, a complementary view, based on the local properties of the same system is suggested. These properties are richer and more informative regarding the local densities, composition and solvation effect. A few examples ranging from Lennard-Jones particles, to inert gas mixtures, to aqueous solutions are presented, stressing the local information that cannot be obtained directly from global properties.