The van der Waals potential between arbitrary micro/nano curved surfaces in curvature-based form

Abstract The van der Waals potential between two arbitrary surfaces regarding to the curvature effect is investigated based on surface theory. It is expressed as a function of local curvatures based on the negative power function (u(r) = Cr−n). Numerical experiments are designed to test the accuracy of curvature-based potential. Corresponding to certain problems, parametric effect for three cases considering the L-J approximation model is discussed, i.e. cylinder-cylinder, ellipsoid-flat surface and spherical particle-sinusoidal surface. The work reveals the domain effect of curvatures for the vdW potential and provide a convenient way to analyze geometrical effect for complex surface in biological and chemical systems.