A molecular simulation study of binary mixtures of hard spherocylinders (HSCs) and hard spheres (HSs)
confined between two structureless hard walls is presented. The principal aim of the work is to understand
the effect of the presence of hard spheres on the entropically-driven surface nematization of the hard rod-like
particles at the walls. The mixtures are studied using a constant normal-pressure Monte Carlo algorithm.
The surface adsorption at different compositions of hard spheres is examined in detail. At moderate hard-
sphere concentrations preferential adsorption of the spheres at the wall is found. However, at moderate to
high pressure (density), we observe a crossover in the adsorption behaviour with nematic layers of the rods
forming at the walls leading to a local demixing of the system. The presence of the spherical particles is seen
to destabilize the surface nematization of the rods, and the degree of demixing increases on increasing the HS
concentration.