Adsorption and structure of Lennard–Jones model fluid in slit-like amorphous silica nanopores

Accelerate the Electrolyte Perturbed-Chain Statistical Associating Fluid Theory–Density Functional Theory Calculation With the Chebyshev Pseudo-Spectral Collocation Method. Part II. Spherical Geometry and Anderson Mixing

To improve the efficiency of electrolyte perturbed-chain statistical associating fluid theory–density functional theory (ePC-SAFT-DFT) calculation of the confined system, in this work, first, the Chebyshev pseudo-spectral collocation method was extended to the spherical pores. Second, it was combined with the Anderson mixing algorithm to accelerate the iterative process. The results show that the Anderson mixing algorithm can reduce the computation time significantly. Finally, based on the accelerated ePC-SAFT-DFT program, a systematic study of the effects of the temperature, pressure, pore size, and pore shape on the CO2 solubilities in the ionic liquids (ILs) confined inside the silica nanopores was conducted. Based on the simulation results, to obtain high CO2 solubilities in the ILs confined in silica, a better option is to use the silica material with a narrow spherical pore, and the IL-anion should be selected specifically considering that it has a more significant impact on the absorption enhancement effect.

Carbon Dioxide Capture in Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Surfaces of Porous Silica Glass

Experimental and simulation studies for carbon dioxide (CO2) adsorption on porous silica glass were performed to reveal how surface heterogeneity can affect the adsorption mechanism of CO2. In performing the simulation, the structure of porous silica glass was modeled as a slit pore consisting of parallel walls of connected SiO4 units. The adsorption isotherms of CO2 at 283 K were generated for a series of pore widths using a Monte Carlo ensemble. The defective surfaces created by random removal of surface atoms and the surfaces containing hydroxyl functional groups were chosen to represent the surface heterogeneity for the simulation tasks. The isotherms derived for the defective surfaces showed a rapid adsorption at low pressures because of the stronger interaction between the rough nonuniform surfaces and CO2 molecules. For the role of surface functional groups, the adsorption isotherms dramatically increased with an increasing number of functional groups. The amount of CO2 adsorbed for randomly placed functional groups was greater than that for the presence of functional groups at the pore edges. The proper control of surface heterogeneity by manipulating both the amounts of hydroxyl surface groups and surface defects should help enhance the efficient capture of CO2 in porous silica glass.

The Structural Properties and Diffusion of a Three-Dimensional Isotropic Core-Softened Model Fluid in Disordered Porous Media. Molecular Dynamics Simulation

The microscopic structure and dynamic properties of an isotropic three-dimensional core-softened model fluid in disordered matrices of Lennard-Jones particles have been studied. Molecular dynamics computer simulations in Grand Canonical ensemble were used as the methodological tools. It was shown that the microscopic structure of the fluid is characterized by anomalies similar to those found in a bulk model, but that it is affected by the fluid-matrix interactions. The dynamic properties also exhibit anomalous dependence on fluid density, but the magnitude of these anomalies is suppressed in comparison to the bulk fluid model. The anomalous behaviour of the diffusion coefficient is attributed to structural changes in the first coordination shell of a given fluid particle. It seems that the anomalies can only be suppressed at matrix densities which are higher than those studied in the present work.

Molecular simulation of methane adsorption in slit-like quartz pores

The GCMC and MD methods were used to investigate the structural properties and adsorption behaviors of methane in quartz nanopores.

Molecular simulation of water confined in nanoporous silica

This paper reports on a molecular simulation study of the thermodynamics, structure and dynamics of water confined at ambient temperature in hydroxylated silica nanopores of a width H = 10 and 20 Å. The adsorption isotherms for water in these nanopores resemble those observed for experimental samples; the adsorbed amount increases continuously in the multilayer adsorption regime until a jump occurs due to capillary condensation of the fluid within the pore. Strong layering of water in the vicinity of the silica surfaces is observed as marked density oscillations are observed up to 8 Å from the surface in the density profiles for confined water. Our results indicate that water molecules within the first adsorbed layer tend to adopt a H-down orientation with respect to the silica substrate. For all pore sizes and adsorbed amounts, the self-diffusivity of confined water is lower than the bulk, due to the hydrophilic interaction between the water molecules and the hydroxylated silica surface. Our results also suggest that the self-diffusivity of confined water is sensitive to the adsorbed amount.