Thermodynamic properties of a polydisperse system - art. no. 031104

We use the virial theorem to derive a closed analytic form of the Helmholtz free energy for a polydisperse system of sticky hard spheres (SHS) within the mean spherical model (MSM). To this end we calculate the free energy of the MSM for an N-component mixture of SHS via the virial route and apply t o it-after imposing a Lorentz-Berthelot type rule on the interactions-the s tochastic (i.e., polydisperse) limit. The resulting excess free energy of t his polydisperse system is of the truncatable moment free energy format. We also discuss the compressibility and the energy routes.