The ins and outs of capillary condensation in cylindrical pores

A series of simulations has been performed of adsorption and desorption of a simple model of xenon in cylindrical pores of a silica-like material. Closed-ended, open-ended, and single-ended pores of either 3 nm or 4 nm diameter were considered, and the pore length was varied between 8 nm and 108 nm. This study exposes some of the possible mechanisms of pore filling and emptying, and demonstrates that hysteresis can be almost entirely suppressed in certain pore geometries. The effects of pore length are considered, and the thermodynamics of 1-dimensional systems and the nature of 'capillary critical points' are discussed.