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Cárdenas H, Kamrul-Bahrin MAH, Seddon D, Othman J, Cabral JT, Mejía A, Shahruddin S, Matar OK, Müller EA. Determining interfacial tension and critical micelle concentrations of surfactants from atomistic molecular simulations. J Colloid Interface Sci 2024; 674:1071-1082. [PMID: 39013277 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2024] [Revised: 06/27/2024] [Accepted: 07/01/2024] [Indexed: 07/18/2024]
Abstract
Hypothesis Atomistically-detailed models of surfactants provide quantitative information on the molecular interactions and spatial distributions at fluid interfaces. Hence, it should be possible to extract from this information, macroscopical thermophysical properties such as interfacial tension, critical micelle concentrations and the relationship between these properties and the bulk fluid surfactant concentrations. Simulations and Experiments Molecular-scale interfacial of systems containing n-dodecyl β-glucoside (APG12) are simulated using classical molecular dynamics. The bulk phases and the corresponding interfacial regions are all explicitly detailed using an all-atom force field (PCFF+). During the simulation, the behaviour of the interface is analyzed geometrically to obtain an approximated value of the critical micelle concentration (CMC) in terms of the surfactant area number density and the interfacial tension is assessed through the analysis of the forces amongst molecules. New experimental determinations are reported for the surface tension of APG12 at the water/air and at the water/n-decane interfaces. Findings We showcase the application of a thermodynamic framework that inter-relates interfacial tensions, surface densities, CMCs and bulk surfactant concentrations, which allows the in silico quantitative prediction of interfacial tension isotherms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Harry Cárdenas
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
| | - M Ariif H Kamrul-Bahrin
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
| | - Dale Seddon
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
| | - Jofry Othman
- Specialty Chemical Technology, PETRONAS Research Sdn Bhd, Malaysia
| | - João T Cabral
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
| | - Andrés Mejía
- Departamento de Ingenieria Quimica, Universidad de Concepcion, Concepcion, Chile
| | - Sara Shahruddin
- Specialty Chemical Technology, PETRONAS Research Sdn Bhd, Malaysia
| | - Omar K Matar
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
| | - Erich A Müller
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.
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2
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Xia W, Cao X, Xu Y, Bian J. Quantitative Study of Gas–Liquid Interface Adsorption Based on Theoretical Modeling and Molecular Dynamics Simulation. Ind Eng Chem Res 2023. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.2c03541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/10/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Wenzhu Xia
- College of Pipeline and Civil Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
| | - Xuewen Cao
- College of Pipeline and Civil Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
| | - Yongqi Xu
- College of Computer Science and Technology, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
| | - Jiang Bian
- College of Pipeline and Civil Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
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3
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Maine A, Encinas MV, Pavez J, Urzúa M, Günther G, Reyes I, Briones X. On the Preparation of Thin Films of Stearyl Methacrylate Directly Photo-polymerized at the Air-Water Interface. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2022; 38:11658-11665. [PMID: 36112511 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.2c01513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Characterization of bidimensional polymeric films at the air-water interface in the Langmuir trough, despite being a recurrent topic, usually refers to films of already formed polymeric materials, with very scarce reports on direct polymerization at the air-water interface. In the present work, we studied the photo-polymerization of stearyl methacrylate directly at the air-water interface under a nitrogen atmosphere, with the radical initiator solubilized in the aqueous phase. Two-dimensional (2D) polymerization was monitored by measuring the pressure-area isotherm at different irradiation times. The polymerization leads to a film with an isotherm different from that observed for the monomer, where the surface pressure is directly related to the irradiation time. The shape of this isotherm confirms the presence of a compressed liquid phase, where a higher order can be attained as a consequence of stronger packing forces involving polymer chains. The presence of inter-chain interactions allows rearrangements on the surface of the subphase, and even before the collapse a dense 2D ordering (with a solid phase-like behavior) can be observed. We present a new one-step, solvent-free procedure to obtain a photo-polymeric film directly at the air-water interface, which can be transferred to a solid surface by the Langmuir-Blodgett method, allowing film preparation of controlled thickness. Films were characterized by measuring properties such as thickness, roughness, and hydrophobicity and comparing them with films obtained from a conventional polymer. We report the differences between the interfacial behavior of amphiphilic molecules and nanomaterials such as films obtained by photo-polymerization, PSMA, directly on the air-water interface.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Maine
- Departamento de Química Orgánica y Fisicoquímica, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad de Chile, Dr. Carlos Lorca Tobar 964, Independencia, Región Metropolitana, Casilla 233, Santiago, Chile
- Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras 3425, Casilla 653, Santiago, Chile
| | - M V Encinas
- Facultad de Química y Biología, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Av. B. O'Higgins 3363 Santiago, Chile
| | - J Pavez
- Departamento de Química de los Materiales, Facultad de Química y Biología, Soft Matter Research-Technology Center, SMAT-C, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Av. B. O'Higgins 3363 Santiago, Chile
| | - M Urzúa
- Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras 3425, Casilla 653, Santiago, Chile
| | - G Günther
- Departamento de Química Orgánica y Fisicoquímica, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad de Chile, Dr. Carlos Lorca Tobar 964, Independencia, Región Metropolitana, Casilla 233, Santiago, Chile
| | - I Reyes
- Departamento de Química Orgánica y Fisicoquímica, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad de Chile, Dr. Carlos Lorca Tobar 964, Independencia, Región Metropolitana, Casilla 233, Santiago, Chile
- Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras 3425, Casilla 653, Santiago, Chile
| | - X Briones
- Departamento de Química Orgánica y Fisicoquímica, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad de Chile, Dr. Carlos Lorca Tobar 964, Independencia, Región Metropolitana, Casilla 233, Santiago, Chile
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4
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Yang XD, Chen W, Ren Y, Chu LY. Exploration of the Adsorption Kinetics of Surfactants at the Water-Oil Interface via Grand-Canonical Molecular Dynamics Simulations. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2022; 38:1277-1286. [PMID: 35015552 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.1c03205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
It is well-known that surfactants tend to aggregate into clusters or micelles in aqueous solutions due to their special structures, and it is difficult for the surfactant molecules involved in the aggregation to move spontaneously to the oil-water interface. In this article, we developed a new grand-canonical molecular dynamics (GCMD) model to predict the saturated adsorption amount of surfactant with constant concentration of surfactant molecules in the bulk phase, which can prevent surfactants aggregating in the bulk phase and get the atomic details of the interfacial structural change with increase of the adsorption amount through a single GCMD run. The adsorption of anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) at the heptane-water interface was studied to validate the model. The saturated adsorption amount obtained from the GCMD simulation is consistent with the experimental results. The adsorption kinetics of SDS molecules during the simulation can be divided into three stages: linear adsorption stage, transition adsorption stage, and dynamic equilibrium stage. We also carried out equilibrium molecular dynamics (EMD) simulations to compare with GCMD simulation. This GCMD model can effectively reduce the simulation time with correct prediction of the interfacial saturation adsorption. We believe the GCMD method could be especially helpful for the computational study of surfactant adsorption under complex environments or emulsion systems with the adsorption of multiple types of surfactants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xue-Dan Yang
- School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, China
- State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, China
- State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Complex Systems, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Wei Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Complex Systems, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049,China
- Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, Liaoning 116023, China
| | - Ying Ren
- State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Complex Systems, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049,China
- Innovation Academy for Green Manufacture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Liang-Yin Chu
- School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, China
- State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, China
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5
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Rahbari A, Hens R, Ramdin M, Moultos OA, Dubbeldam D, Vlugt TJH. Recent advances in the continuous fractional component Monte Carlo methodology. MOLECULAR SIMULATION 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/08927022.2020.1828585] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- A. Rahbari
- Engineering Thermodynamics, Process & Energy Department, Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands
| | - R. Hens
- Engineering Thermodynamics, Process & Energy Department, Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands
| | - M. Ramdin
- Engineering Thermodynamics, Process & Energy Department, Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands
| | - O. A. Moultos
- Engineering Thermodynamics, Process & Energy Department, Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands
| | - D. Dubbeldam
- Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - T. J. H. Vlugt
- Engineering Thermodynamics, Process & Energy Department, Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands
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6
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Rahbari A, Hens R, Moultos OA, Dubbeldam D, Vlugt TJH. Multiple Free Energy Calculations from Single State Point Continuous Fractional Component Monte Carlo Simulation Using Umbrella Sampling. J Chem Theory Comput 2020; 16:1757-1767. [PMID: 31999461 PMCID: PMC7066647 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.9b01097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
![]()
We introduce an alternative method
to perform free energy calculations
for mixtures at multiple temperatures and pressures from a single
simulation, by combining umbrella sampling and the continuous fractional
component Monte Carlo method. One can perform a simulation of a mixture
at a certain pressure and temperature and accurately compute the chemical
potential at other pressures and temperatures close to the simulation
conditions. This method has the following advantages: (1) Accurate
estimates of the chemical potential as a function of pressure and
temperature are obtained from a single state simulation without additional
postprocessing. This can potentially reduce the number of simulations
of a system for free energy calculations for a specific temperature
and/or pressure range. (2) Partial molar volumes and enthalpies are
obtained directly from the estimated chemical potentials. We tested
our method for a Lennard-Jones system, aqueous mixtures of methanol
at T = 298 K and P = 1 bar, and
a mixture of ammonia, nitrogen, and hydrogen at T = 573 K and P = 800 bar. For pure methanol (N = 410 molecules), we observed that the estimated chemical
potentials from umbrella sampling are in excellent agreement with
the reference values obtained from independent simulations, for ΔT = ±15 K and ΔP = 100 bar (with
respect to the simulated system). For larger systems, this range becomes
smaller because the relative fluctuations of energy and volume become
smaller. Without sufficient overlap, the performance of the method
will become poor especially for nonlinear variations of the chemical
potential.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmadreza Rahbari
- Engineering Thermodynamics, Process & Energy Department, Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Leeghwaterstraat 39, 2628 CB Delft, The Netherlands
| | - Remco Hens
- Engineering Thermodynamics, Process & Energy Department, Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Leeghwaterstraat 39, 2628 CB Delft, The Netherlands
| | - Othonas A Moultos
- Engineering Thermodynamics, Process & Energy Department, Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Leeghwaterstraat 39, 2628 CB Delft, The Netherlands
| | - David Dubbeldam
- Van't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Thijs J H Vlugt
- Engineering Thermodynamics, Process & Energy Department, Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Leeghwaterstraat 39, 2628 CB Delft, The Netherlands
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7
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Yoon J, Ulissi ZW. Capturing Structural Transitions in Surfactant Adsorption Isotherms at Solid/Solution Interfaces. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2020; 36:819-826. [PMID: 31891511 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.9b02235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Although adsorption isotherms of surfactants are critical in determining the relationship between interfacial properties and structures of surfactants, providing quantitative predictions of the isotherms remains challenging. This is especially true for adsorption at hard interfaces such as on two-dimensional (2D) layered materials or on nanoparticles where simulation techniques developed for fluid-fluid interfaces that dynamically change surface properties by adjusting unit cells do not apply. In this work, we predict nonideal adsorption at a solid-solution interface with a molecular thermodynamic theory (MTT) model that utilizes molecular dynamics (MD) simulations for the determination of free-energy parameters in the MTT. Furthermore, the MD/MTT model provides atomistic insights into the nonideal behavior of surfactants by capturing structural phases of the surfactants at the interface. Our approach captures structural transitions from the ideal state at low concentrations and then to the critical surface aggregation concentration (CSAC) and finally through the critical micelle concentration (CMC). We validate our model against the original MTT model by comparing predicted adsorption isotherms of a simplified surfactant system from both approaches. We further substantiate the applicability of our model in complex systems by providing adsorption isotherms in an aqueous sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-graphene system, in good agreement with the experimental observations of the CSAC for the same system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junwoong Yoon
- Department of Chemical Engineering , Carnegie Mellon University , Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania 15213 , United States
| | - Zachary W Ulissi
- Department of Chemical Engineering , Carnegie Mellon University , Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania 15213 , United States
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8
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Rahbari A, Hens R, Dubbeldam D, Vlugt TJH. Improving the accuracy of computing chemical potentials in CFCMC simulations. Mol Phys 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/00268976.2019.1631497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- A. Rahbari
- Engineering Thermodynamics, Process & Energy Department, Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft, Netherlands
| | - R. Hens
- Engineering Thermodynamics, Process & Energy Department, Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft, Netherlands
| | - D. Dubbeldam
- Van't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - T. J. H. Vlugt
- Engineering Thermodynamics, Process & Energy Department, Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft, Netherlands
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9
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Rathee VS, Sidky H, Sikora BJ, Whitmer JK. Role of Associative Charging in the Entropy-Energy Balance of Polyelectrolyte Complexes. J Am Chem Soc 2018; 140:15319-15328. [PMID: 30351015 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.8b08649] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Polyelectrolytes may be classified into two primary categories (strong and weak) depending on how their charge state responds to the local environment. Both of these find use in many applications, including drug delivery, gene therapy, layer-by-layer films, and fabrication of ion filtration membranes. The mechanism of polyelectrolyte complexation is, however, still not completely understood, though experimental investigations suggest that entropy gain due to release of counterions is the key driving force for strong polyelectrolyte complexation. Here we perform a comprehensive thermodynamic investigation through coarse-grained molecular simulations permitting us to calculate the free energy of complex formation. Importantly, our expanded-ensemble methods permit the explicit separation of energetic and entropic contributions to the free energy. Our investigations indicate that entropic contributions indeed dominate the free energy of complex formation for strong polyelectrolytes, but are less important than energetic contributions when weak electrostatic coupling or weak polyelectrolytes are present. Our results provide a new view of the free energy of polyelectrolyte complex formation driven by polymer association, which should also arise in systems with large charge spacings or bulky counterions, both of which act to weaken ion-polymer binding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vikramjit S Rathee
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering , University of Notre Dame , Notre Dame , Indiana 46556 , United States
| | - Hythem Sidky
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering , University of Notre Dame , Notre Dame , Indiana 46556 , United States
| | - Benjamin J Sikora
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering , University of Notre Dame , Notre Dame , Indiana 46556 , United States
| | - Jonathan K Whitmer
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering , University of Notre Dame , Notre Dame , Indiana 46556 , United States
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10
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Chen QP, Xie S, Foudazi R, Lodge TP, Siepmann JI. Understanding the Molecular Weight Dependence of χ and the Effect of Dispersity on Polymer Blend Phase Diagrams. Macromolecules 2018. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.8b00604] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Qile P. Chen
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, 421 Washington Avenue SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455-0132, United States
| | | | - Reza Foudazi
- Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, New Mexico State University, MSC 3805, P.O.
Box 30001, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003-8001, United States
| | - Timothy P. Lodge
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, 421 Washington Avenue SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455-0132, United States
| | - J. Ilja Siepmann
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, 421 Washington Avenue SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455-0132, United States
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