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Wang D, Lippmann M, Gäding J, Ehnes A, Novikov D, Meißner R, Seeck OH. Orientation order of a nonpolar molecular fluid compressed into a nanosmall space. NANOSCALE 2023; 15:8019-8028. [PMID: 37070420 DOI: 10.1039/d2nr06330a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
The ordering structures of non-polar carbon tetrachloride liquid compressed to nano-scales between parallel substrates is studied in this work. The theoretical considerations show that the potential well formed by the confined parallel substrates induces orientational ordering of non-polar molecules. Through molecular dynamic (MD) simulations, the relations between various ordered structures of a non-polar liquid (carbon tetrachloride) and the confined gap size are demonstrated. The density distribution shows that the confinement does affect the ordering modes and induces an orientational ordering of molecules at the solid-liquid interface under extreme confinement conditions. This molecular orientation suggested from the theoretical model and MD simulation is directly supported by the experimental studies for the first time. The X-ray reflectivity data reveal a strong layering effect with splitting of the density profile in C and Cl-rich sublayers. The investigation shows that the liquid structure factor in confinement has a characteristic length similar to the short-range ordering in bulk, but the confined structure is strongly influenced by the surface potential and the interface properties. This introduces preferred molecular orientation and ordering which are not favorable in the bulk phase. As the orientational ordering is closely related to crystallization, our results provide a new perspective to control the crystallization in nano-confined space by compression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Mechanics and Control for Aerospace Structures, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, No. 29 Yudao Street, Nanjing 210016, China
| | - Milena Lippmann
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, 22607 Hamburg, Germany.
| | | | - Anita Ehnes
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, 22607 Hamburg, Germany.
| | - Dmitri Novikov
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, 22607 Hamburg, Germany.
| | - Robert Meißner
- Hamburg University of Technology, 21073 Hamburg, Germany
- Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, 21502 Geesthacht, Germany
| | - Oliver H Seeck
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, 22607 Hamburg, Germany.
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Weiss H, Cheng HW, Mars J, Li H, Merola C, Renner FU, Honkimäki V, Valtiner M, Mezger M. Structure and Dynamics of Confined Liquids: Challenges and Perspectives for the X-ray Surface Forces Apparatus. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2019; 35:16679-16692. [PMID: 31614087 PMCID: PMC6933819 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.9b01215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2019] [Revised: 10/15/2019] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
The molecular-scale structure and dynamics of confined liquids has increasingly gained relevance for applications in nanotechnology. Thus, a detailed knowledge of the structure of confined liquids on molecular length scales is of great interest for fundamental and applied sciences. To study confined structures under dynamic conditions, we constructed an in situ X-ray surface forces apparatus (X-SFA). This novel device can create a precisely controlled slit-pore confinement down to dimensions on the 10 nm scale by using a cylinder-on-flat geometry for the first time. Complementary structural information can be obtained by simultaneous force measurements and X-ray scattering experiments. The in-plane structure of liquids parallel to the slit pore and density profiles perpendicular to the confining interfaces are studied by X-ray scattering and reflectivity. The normal load between the opposing interfaces can be modulated to study the structural dynamics of confined liquids. The confinement gap distance is tracked simultaneously with nanometer precision by analyzing optical interference fringes of equal chromatic order. Relaxation processes can be studied by driving the system out of equilibrium by shear stress or compression/decompression cycles of the slit pore. The capability of the new device is demonstrated on the liquid crystal 4'-octyl-4-cyano-biphenyl (8CB) in its smectic A (SmA) mesophase. Its molecular-scale structure and orientation confined in 100 nm to 1.7 μm slit pores was studied under static and dynamic nonequilibrium conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henning Weiss
- Max
Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Hsiu-Wei Cheng
- Institute
of Applied Physics, Vienna Institute of
Technology, Wiedner Hauptstrasse 8-10/E134, 1040 Wien, Austria
| | - Julian Mars
- Max
Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
- Institute
of Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University
Mainz, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Hailong Li
- Max
Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Claudia Merola
- Institute
of Applied Physics, Vienna Institute of
Technology, Wiedner Hauptstrasse 8-10/E134, 1040 Wien, Austria
| | - Frank Uwe Renner
- Institute
for Materials Research, Hasselt University, 3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium
| | - Veijo Honkimäki
- ESRF-European
Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Avenue des Martyrs 71, 38043 Grenoble, Cedex 9, France
| | - Markus Valtiner
- Institute
of Applied Physics, Vienna Institute of
Technology, Wiedner Hauptstrasse 8-10/E134, 1040 Wien, Austria
- Max-Planck-Institut
für Eisenforschung GmbH, Max-Planck-Strasse 1, 40237 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Markus Mezger
- Max
Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
- Institute
of Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University
Mainz, 55128 Mainz, Germany
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