We use molecular dynamics to simulate experiments where a symmetric binary fluid mixture $(AB)$, confined between walls that preferentially attract one component $(A)$, is quenched from the one-phase region into the miscibility gap. Surface enrichment occurs during the early stages, yielding a $B$-rich mixture in the film center with well-defined $A$-rich droplets. The droplet size grows with time as $\ell (t)\propto t^{2/3}$ after a transient regime. The present atomistic model is also compared to mesoscopic coarse-grained models for this problem.

• Received 4 October 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.016107