Non-retarded room temperature Hamaker constants between elemental metals
P. Tolias
Abstract
The Lifshitz theory of van der Waals forces is utilized for the systematic calculation of the non-retarded room temperature Hamaker constants between 26 identical isotropic elemental metals that are embedded in vacuum or in pure water. The full spectral method, complemented with a Drude-like low frequency extrapolation, is employed for the elemental metals benefitting from the availability of extended-in-frequency reliable dielectric data. The simple spectral method is employed for pure water and three dielectric representations are explored. Numerical truncation and low frequency extrapolation effects are shown to be negligible. The accuracy of common Lifshitz approximations is quantified. The Hamaker constants for 100 metal combinations are reported; the geometric mixing rule is revealed to be highly accurate in vacuum & water.