1
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Gadea ED, Perez Sirkin YA, Molinero V, Scherlis DA. The smallest electrochemical bubbles. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2406956121. [PMID: 39356663 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2406956121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2024] [Accepted: 09/05/2024] [Indexed: 10/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Many of the relevant electrochemical processes in the context of catalysis or energy conversion and storage, entail the production of gases. This often implicates the nucleation of bubbles at the interface, with the concomitant blockage of the electroactive area leading to overpotentials and Ohmic drop. Nanoelectrodes have been envisioned as assets to revert this effect, by inhibiting bubble formation. Experiments show, however, that nanobubbles nucleate and attach to nanoscale electrodes, imposing a limit to the current, which turns out to be independent of size and applied potential in a wide range from 3 nm to tenths of microns. Here we investigate the potential-current response for disk electrodes of diameters down to a single-atom, employing molecular simulations including electrochemical generation of gas. Our analysis reveals that nanoelectrodes of 1 nm can offer twice as much current as that delivered by electrodes with areas four orders of magnitude larger at the same bias. This boost in the extracted current is a consequence of the destabilization of the gas phase. The grand potential of surface nanobubbles shows they can not reach a thermodynamically stable state on supports below 2 nm. As a result, the electroactive area becomes accessible to the solution and the current turns out to be sensitive to the electrode radius. In this way, our simulations establish that there is an optimal size for the nanoelectrodes, in between the single-atom and ∼3 nm, that optimizes the gas production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esteban D Gadea
- Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Analítica y Química Física/INQUIMAE, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires C1428EHA, Argentina
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0850
| | - Yamila A Perez Sirkin
- Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Analítica y Química Física/INQUIMAE, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires C1428EHA, Argentina
| | - Valeria Molinero
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0850
| | - Damian A Scherlis
- Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Analítica y Química Física/INQUIMAE, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires C1428EHA, Argentina
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2
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Shi Q, Lin Z, Qu Y, Wu J, Zhang Z. HTR+: a novel algorithm for identifying type and polycrystal of gas hydrates. JOURNAL OF PHYSICS. CONDENSED MATTER : AN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS JOURNAL 2024; 36:365901. [PMID: 38821075 DOI: 10.1088/1361-648x/ad52df] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2024] [Accepted: 05/31/2024] [Indexed: 06/02/2024]
Abstract
In this work, the hierarchical topology ring (HTR+) algorithm, an extension of the HTR algorithm, was developed for identifying gas hydrate types, cage structures, and grain boundaries (GBs) within polycrystalline structures. Utilizing molecular dynamics trajectories of polycrystalline hydrates, the accuracy of the HTR+ algorithm is validated in identifying sI, sII and sH hydrate types, hydrate grains, and GBs in multi-hydrate polycrystals, as well as clathrate cages at GBs. Additionally, during the hydrate nucleation and growth processes, clathrate cages, hydrate type, hydrate grains and ice structures are accurately recognized. Significantly, this algorithm demonstrates high efficiency, particularly for large hydrate systems. HTR+ algorithm emerges a powerful tool for identifying micro/mesoscopic structures of gas hydrates, enabling an in-depth understanding of the formation mechanisms and properties of gas hydrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiao Shi
- Department of Physics, Research Institute for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Jiujiang Research Institute and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, People's Republic of China
| | - Ziyan Lin
- Department of Physics, Research Institute for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Jiujiang Research Institute and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, People's Republic of China
| | - Yongxiao Qu
- Department of Physics, Research Institute for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Jiujiang Research Institute and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, People's Republic of China
| | - Jianyang Wu
- Department of Physics, Research Institute for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Jiujiang Research Institute and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, People's Republic of China
- NTNU Nanomechanical Lab, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim 7491, Norway
| | - Zhisen Zhang
- Department of Physics, Research Institute for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Jiujiang Research Institute and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, People's Republic of China
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3
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Bassani CL, Engel M, Sum AK. Mesomorphology of clathrate hydrates from molecular ordering. J Chem Phys 2024; 160:190901. [PMID: 38767264 DOI: 10.1063/5.0200516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2024] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Clathrate hydrates are crystals formed by guest molecules that stabilize cages of hydrogen-bonded water molecules. Whereas thermodynamic equilibrium is well described via the van der Waals and Platteeuw approach, the increasing concerns with global warming and energy transition require extending the knowledge to non-equilibrium conditions in multiphase, sheared systems, in a multiscale framework. Potential macro-applications concern the storage of carbon dioxide in the form of clathrates, and the reduction of hydrate inhibition additives currently required in hydrocarbon production. We evidence porous mesomorphologies as key to bridging the molecular scales to macro-applications of low solubility guests. We discuss the coupling of molecular ordering with the mesoscales, including (i) the emergence of porous patterns as a combined factor from the walk over the free energy landscape and 3D competitive nucleation and growth and (ii) the role of molecular attachment rates in crystallization-diffusion models that allow predicting the timescale of pore sealing. This is a perspective study that discusses the use of discrete models (molecular dynamics) to build continuum models (phase field models, crystallization laws, and transport phenomena) to predict multiscale manifestations at a feasible computational cost. Several advances in correlated fields (ice, polymers, alloys, and nanoparticles) are discussed in the scenario of clathrate hydrates, as well as the challenges and necessary developments to push the field forward.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos L Bassani
- Institute for Multiscale Simulation, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Michael Engel
- Institute for Multiscale Simulation, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Amadeu K Sum
- Phases to Flow Laboratory, Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA
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4
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Lin Y, Zhou Z, Song Z, Shi Q, Hao Y, Fu Y, Li T, Zhang Z, Wu J. Insights into the mechanical stability of tetrahydrofuran hydrates from experimental, machine learning, and molecular dynamics perspectives. NANOSCALE 2024; 16:6296-6308. [PMID: 38463012 DOI: 10.1039/d3nr04940j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/12/2024]
Abstract
Natural gas hydrates (NGHs) hold immense potential as a future energy resource and for sustainable applications such as gas capture and storage. Due to the challenging formation conditions, however, their mechanical properties remain poorly understood. Herein, the mechanical characteristics of tetrahydrofuran (THF) hydrates, a proxy for methane hydrates, were investigated at different ice contents, strain rates, and temperatures using uniaxial compressive experiments. The results unveil a distinct behavior in the peak strength of THF hydrates with a varying ice content, strain rate and temperature, exhibiting an increase as the strain rate and temperature decrease, in contrast to the peak strength-strain rate relationship observed in polycrystalline ice. Based on the experimental data, four machine learning (ML) models including extreme gradient boosting (XGboost), multilayer perceptron (MLP), gradient boosting decision tree (GBDT) and decision tree (DT) were developed to predict the peak strength. The XGboost model demonstrates superior predictive performance, emphasizing the significant influence of ice content and temperature on the peak strength of hydrates. Furthermore, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were employed to gain insights into the dissociation and formation processes of clathrate cages, as well as phase transitions and amorphization occurring at grain boundaries (GBs) involving diverse unconventional clathrate cages, including 51265, 4151062, 4151064, 425861 and 425862, with 425861 and 425862 cages being predominant. This study enhances our understanding of the mechanical properties and deformation mechanisms of hydrates and provides a ML-based predictive framework for estimating the compressive strength of hydrates under diverse coupling conditions. The findings have significant implications for stability assessments of NGHs and the exploitation of NGH resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanwen Lin
- Department of Physics, Research Institute for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Jiujiang Research Institute and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, PR China.
- Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Related Technologies, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, PR China
| | - Ziyue Zhou
- Department of Physics, Research Institute for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Jiujiang Research Institute and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, PR China.
| | - Zixuan Song
- Department of Physics, Research Institute for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Jiujiang Research Institute and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, PR China.
| | - Qiao Shi
- Department of Physics, Research Institute for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Jiujiang Research Institute and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, PR China.
| | - Yongchao Hao
- Department of Physics, Research Institute for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Jiujiang Research Institute and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, PR China.
| | - Yuequn Fu
- PoreLab, the Njord Centre, Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Oslo 0371, Norway
| | - Tong Li
- Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Related Technologies, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, PR China
- Key Laboratory of Icing and Anti/De-icing, China Aerodynamics Research and Development Center, Mianyang Sichuan 621000, China
| | - Zhisen Zhang
- Department of Physics, Research Institute for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Jiujiang Research Institute and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, PR China.
| | - Jianyang Wu
- Department of Physics, Research Institute for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Jiujiang Research Institute and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, PR China.
- NTNU Nanomechanical Lab, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim 7491, Norway
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5
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Adibifard M, Olorode O. Large-Scale Nonequilibrium Molecular Studies of Thermal Hydrate Dissociation. J Phys Chem B 2023; 127:6543-6550. [PMID: 37462521 PMCID: PMC11008782 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c03391] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2023] [Revised: 06/24/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023]
Abstract
The energy content of methane hydrate reservoirs (MHRs) is at least twice that of conventional fossil fuels. So, there is considerable interest in their commercial development by heating, among other dissociation mechanisms. However, a few researchers have highlighted the potentially uncontrollable release of methane from MHRs, which could occur because of global warming. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the kinetics of thermal hydrate dissociation to safely develop these resources and prevent the release of this greenhouse gas into the environment. Although there have been several molecular studies of thermal dissociation, most of these use small simulation domains that cannot capture the transient nature of the process. To address this limitation, we performed coarse-grained molecular dynamics (CGMD) simulations on a significantly larger domain with a hundred times more hydrate unit cells than those used in previous studies. We monitored the kinetics of dissociation using an image-processing algorithm and observed the dynamics of the process while maintaining a thermal gradient at the dissociation front. For the first time, we report the formation of an unstable secondary dissociation path that triggers gas bubbles within the solid hydrate. The kinetics of thermal dissociation appears to occur in three stages. In the first stage, the energy of the system increases until it exceeds the activation energy, and dissociation is initiated. Consistent dissociation occurs in the second stage, whereas the third stage involves the dissociation of the remaining hydrates across a nonplanar and heterogeneous interface.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meisam Adibifard
- Department
of Petroleum Engineering, Louisiana State
University, Baton
Rouge, Louisiana 70803, United States
| | - Olufemi Olorode
- Department
of Petroleum Engineering, Louisiana State
University, Baton
Rouge, Louisiana 70803, United States
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6
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Lee S, Vo T, Glotzer SC. Entropy compartmentalization stabilizes open host-guest colloidal clathrates. Nat Chem 2023:10.1038/s41557-023-01200-6. [PMID: 37231299 DOI: 10.1038/s41557-023-01200-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2022] [Accepted: 04/13/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Clathrates are open crystals in which molecules are arranged in a hierarchy of polyhedral cages that encapsulate guest molecules and ions. As well as holding fundamental interest, molecular clathrates serve practical purposes, such as for gas storage, and their colloidal counterparts also appear promising for host-guest applications. Here using Monte Carlo simulations, we report the entropy-driven self-assembly of hard truncated triangular bipyramids into seven different host-guest colloidal clathrate crystals with unit cells ranging from 84 to 364 particles. The structures consist of cages that are either empty or occupied by guest particles, which can be different from or identical to the host particles. The simulations point to crystallization occurring through the compartmentalization of entropy between low- and high-entropy subsystems for the host and the guest particles, respectively. We use entropic bonding theory to design host-guest colloidal clathrates with explicit interparticle attraction, providing a route to realize such systems in the laboratory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sangmin Lee
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Thi Vo
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Sharon C Glotzer
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
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7
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Lin Y, Li T, Liu S, Shi Q, Xu K, Zhang Z, Wu J. Interfacial mechanical properties of tetrahydrofuran hydrate-solid surfaces: Implications for hydrate management. J Colloid Interface Sci 2023; 629:326-335. [PMID: 36162390 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2022.09.081] [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: 07/01/2022] [Revised: 09/01/2022] [Accepted: 09/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Understanding the interfacial mechanical properties between hydrate and solids is vital to designing and fabricating surfaces for hydrate management. Herein, the role of the surface wettability, the type of solid substrate and temperature on the interfacial adhesion properties of tetrahydrofuran (THF) hydrate and ice were examined by force analysis based shearing measurements and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The results showed that the adhesion strength of THF hydrate and ice on silica varies with the compositions of coating, and the adhesion strength of ice is larger than that of THF hydrate for all investigated solid substrates. Particularly, in contrast to a linear relationship between 1 + cosθr and hydrate adhesion on organic silanes/thiols/polymer surfaces, the hydrate adhesion on the coated inorganic glass surfaces is enhanced as a function of 1 + cosθr, in which θr is the receding contact angle. MD simulations uncovered that the adhesion strength of ice on solid substrates is dominated by the quasi-liquid water layer, however, that of hydrate is governed not only by the quasi-liquid layer but also newly formed unconventional clathrate cages. This study provides new insights and perspectives into the hydrate adhesion on solid surfaces, which is of help to develop hydrate-phobic coatings for advanced hydrate management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanwen Lin
- Department of Physics, Research Institute for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Jiujiang Research Institute and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, PR China; Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Related Technologies, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Protective Technologies, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, PR China
| | - Tong Li
- Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Related Technologies, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Protective Technologies, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, PR China; Key Laboratory of Icing and Anti/De-icing, China Aerodynamics Research and Development Center, Mianyang Sichuan 621000, China.
| | - Senyun Liu
- Key Laboratory of Icing and Anti/De-icing, China Aerodynamics Research and Development Center, Mianyang Sichuan 621000, China
| | - Qiao Shi
- Department of Physics, Research Institute for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Jiujiang Research Institute and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, PR China
| | - Ke Xu
- Department of Physics, Research Institute for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Jiujiang Research Institute and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, PR China
| | - Zhisen Zhang
- Department of Physics, Research Institute for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Jiujiang Research Institute and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, PR China
| | - Jianyang Wu
- Department of Physics, Research Institute for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Jiujiang Research Institute and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, PR China; NTNU Nanomechanical Lab, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim 7491, Norway.
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8
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Barnett A, Karnes JJ, Lu J, Major DR, Oakdale JS, Grew KN, McClure JP, Molinero V. Exponential Water Uptake in Ionomer Membranes Results from Polymer Plasticization. Macromolecules 2022. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c01042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Adam Barnett
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Utah, 315 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0850, United States
| | - John J. Karnes
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, California 94550, United States
| | - Jibao Lu
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Utah, 315 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0850, United States
| | - Dale R. Major
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, California 94550, United States
| | - James S. Oakdale
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, California 94550, United States
| | - Kyle N. Grew
- DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, Maryland 20783, United States
| | - Joshua P. McClure
- DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, Maryland 20783, United States
| | - Valeria Molinero
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Utah, 315 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0850, United States
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9
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Lauricella M, Ghaani MR, Nandi PK, Meloni S, Kvamme B, English NJ. Double Life of Methanol: Experimental Studies and Nonequilibrium Molecular-Dynamics Simulation of Methanol Effects on Methane-Hydrate Nucleation. THE JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY. C, NANOMATERIALS AND INTERFACES 2022; 126:6075-6081. [PMID: 35422892 PMCID: PMC8996238 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.2c00329] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2022] [Revised: 03/09/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
We have investigated systematically and statistically methanol-concentration effects on methane-hydrate nucleation using both experiment and restrained molecular-dynamics simulation, employing simple observables to achieve an initially homogeneous methane-supersaturated solution particularly favorable for nucleation realization in reasonable simulation times. We observe the pronounced "bifurcated" character of the nucleation rate upon methanol concentration in both experiments and simulation, with promotion at low concentrations and switching to industrially familiar inhibition at higher concentrations. Higher methanol concentrations suppress hydrate growth by in-lattice methanol incorporation, resulting in the formation of "defects", increasing the energy of the nucleus. At low concentrations, on the contrary, the detrimental effect of defects is more than compensated for by the beneficial contribution of CH3 in easing methane incorporation in the cages or replacing it altogether.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Lauricella
- School
of Physics, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4 D04
V1W8, Ireland
- Istituto
per le Applicazioni del Calcolo, Consiglio
Nazionale delle Ricerche, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Mohammad Reza Ghaani
- School
of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
| | - Prithwish K. Nandi
- School
of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
| | - Simone Meloni
- School
of Physics, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4 D04
V1W8, Ireland
- Dipartimento
di Scienze Chimiche, Farmaceutiche e Agrarie (DOCPAS), University of Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
| | - Bjorn Kvamme
- Hyzen
Energy, Laguna Hills, California 92656, United States
| | - Niall J. English
- School
of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
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10
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Zhao J, Jin J, Lv K, Sun J, Wang R, Wang J, Guo X, Hou Q, Liu J, Bai Y, Huang X, Liu J. Effects of PVP and NaCl on the decomposition of methane hydrate by MD simulation. Colloids Surf A Physicochem Eng Asp 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.colsurfa.2021.127817] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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11
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Lu Y, Yang L, Kuang Y, Song Y, Zhao J, Sum AK. Molecular simulations on the stability and dynamics of bulk nanobubbles in aqueous environments. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2021; 23:27533-27542. [PMID: 34874384 DOI: 10.1039/d1cp03325e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Nanobubbles have attracted significant attention due to their unexpectedly long lifetimes and stabilities in liquid solutions. However, explanations for the unique properties of nanobubbles at the molecular scale are somewhat controversial. Of special interest is the validity of the Young-Laplace equation in predicting the inner pressure of such bubbles. In this work, large-scale molecular dynamics simulations were performed to study the stability and diffusion of nanobubbles of methane in water. Two types of force field, atomistic and coarse-grained, were used to compare the calculated results. In accordance with predictions from the Young-Laplace equation, it was found that the inner pressure of the nanobubbles increased with decreasing nanobubble size. Consequently, a large pressure difference between the nanobubble and its surroundings resulted in the high solubility of methane molecules in water. The solubility was considered to enable nanobubble stability at exceptionally high pressures. Smaller bubbles were observed to be more mobile via Brownian motion. The calculated diffusion coefficient also showed a strong dependence on the nanobubble size. However, this active mobility of small nanobubbles also triggered a mutable nanobubble shape over time. Nanobubbles were also found to coalesce when they were sufficiently close. A critical distance between two nanobubbles was thus identified to avoid coalescence. These results provide insight into the behavior of nanobubbles in solution and the mechanism of their unique stability while withstanding high inner pressures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Lu
- Key Laboratory of Ocean Energy Utilization and Energy Conservation of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
| | - Lei Yang
- Key Laboratory of Ocean Energy Utilization and Energy Conservation of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
| | - Yangmin Kuang
- Key Laboratory of Ocean Energy Utilization and Energy Conservation of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
| | - Yongchen Song
- Key Laboratory of Ocean Energy Utilization and Energy Conservation of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
| | - Jiafei Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Ocean Energy Utilization and Energy Conservation of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
| | - Amadeu K Sum
- Phases to Flow Laboratory, Chemical & Biological Engineering Department, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA.
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12
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Ma R, Wang F, Chang Y, Xiao S, English NJ, He J, Zhang Z. Unraveling Adhesion Strength between Gas Hydrate and Solid Surfaces. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2021; 37:13873-13881. [PMID: 34784476 PMCID: PMC8638257 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.1c02315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2021] [Revised: 11/03/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Natural gas hydrate is a promising future energy source, but it also poses a huge threat to oil and gas production due to its ability to deposit within and block pipelines. Understanding the atomistic mechanisms of adhesion between the hydrate and solid surfaces and elucidating its underlying key determining factors can shed light on the fundamentals of novel antihydrate materials design. In this study, large-scale molecular simulations are employed to investigate the hydrate adhesion on solid surfaces, especially with focuses on the atomistic structures of intermediate layer and their influences on the adhesion. The results show that the structure of the intermediate layer formed between hydrate and solid surface is a competitive equilibrium of induced growth from both sides, and is regulated by the content of guest molecules. By comparing the fracture behaviors of the hydrate-solid surface system with different intermediate structures, it is found that both the lattice areal density of water structure and the adsorption of guest molecules on the interface together determine the adhesion strength. Based on the analysis of the adhesion strength distribution, we have also revealed the origins of the drastic difference in adhesion among different water structures such as ice and hydrate. Our simulation indicates that ice-adhesion strength is approximately five times that of lowest hydrate adhesion strength. This finding is surprisingly consistent with the available experimental results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rui Ma
- NTNU
Nanomechanical Lab, Department of Structural Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim 7491, Norway
| | - Feng Wang
- NTNU
Nanomechanical Lab, Department of Structural Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim 7491, Norway
| | - Yuanhao Chang
- NTNU
Nanomechanical Lab, Department of Structural Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim 7491, Norway
| | - Senbo Xiao
- NTNU
Nanomechanical Lab, Department of Structural Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim 7491, Norway
| | - Niall J. English
- School
of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, University College Dublin, Belfield Dublin 4, Ireland
| | - Jianying He
- NTNU
Nanomechanical Lab, Department of Structural Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim 7491, Norway
| | - Zhiliang Zhang
- NTNU
Nanomechanical Lab, Department of Structural Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim 7491, Norway
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13
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Abstract
Water and methane can stay together under low temperature and high pressure in the forms of liquid solutions and crystalline solids. From liquid and gaseous states to crystalline solids or the contrary processes, amorphous methane hydrates can occur in these evolution scenarios. Herein, mechanical properties of amorphous methane hydrates are explored for the first time to bridge the gap between mechanical responses of monocrystalline and polycrystalline methane hydrates. Our results demonstrate that mechanical properties of amorphous methane hydrates are strongly governed by our original proposed order parameter, namely, normalized hydrogen-bond directional order parameter. Followed by this important achievement, a multistep deformation mechanism core is proposed to explain mechanical properties of amorphous methane hydrates. Through an extensive detailed analysis of amorphous methane hydrates, our simulation results not only greatly enlarge our fundamental understanding for mechanical responses of amorphous methane hydrates in geological systems but also offer a fresh perspective in structure-property topics of solid materials in future science and technology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pinqiang Cao
- School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430081, China
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14
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Honda K, Fujikawa R, Ma X, Yamamoto N, Fujiwara K, Kaneko A, Abe Y. The formation and growth model of a
CO
2
hydrate layer based on molecular dynamics. AIChE J 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/aic.17406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kota Honda
- Department of Engineering Mechanics and Energy University of Tsukuba Ibaraki Japan
| | - Rintaro Fujikawa
- Department of Engineering Mechanics and Energy University of Tsukuba Ibaraki Japan
| | - Xiao Ma
- Department of Engineering Mechanics and Energy University of Tsukuba Ibaraki Japan
| | - Norifumi Yamamoto
- Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering Chiba Institute of Technology Chiba Japan
| | - Kota Fujiwara
- Department of Engineering Mechanics and Energy University of Tsukuba Ibaraki Japan
| | - Akiko Kaneko
- Department of Engineering Mechanics and Energy University of Tsukuba Ibaraki Japan
| | - Yutaka Abe
- Department of Engineering Mechanics and Energy University of Tsukuba Ibaraki Japan
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15
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Xi W, Feng H, Liu D, Chen L, Zhang Y, Li Q. Electrocatalytic generation and tuning of ultra-stable and ultra-dense nanometre bubbles: an in situ molecular dynamics study. NANOSCALE 2021; 13:11242-11249. [PMID: 34152337 DOI: 10.1039/d1nr01588e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Electrocatalytic generation of nanometre gas bubbles (nanobubbles) and their tuning are important for many energy and chemical processes. Studies have sought to use indirect or ex situ methods to investigate the dynamics and properties of nanobubbles, which are of fundamental interest. Alternatively, we present a molecular dynamics simulation method, which features in situ and high spatial resolution, to directly address these fundamentals. Particularly, our simulations can quantitatively reproduce the generation of ultra-stable and ultra-dense nanobubbles observed in electrochemical experiments. More importantly, our results demonstrate that the classical nucleation theory is still valid even for the scale down to several nanometres, to predict the dynamics and properties of nanobubbles. This provides general guidelines to design efficient nanocatalysts and nanoelectrodes. In our specific case, nanoelectrodes with wetting angles below 71° can suppress the generation of surface nanobubbles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenjing Xi
- MIIT Key Laboratory of Thermal Control of Electronic Equipment, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China.
| | - Hao Feng
- MIIT Key Laboratory of Thermal Control of Electronic Equipment, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China.
| | - Dong Liu
- MIIT Key Laboratory of Thermal Control of Electronic Equipment, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China.
| | - Longfei Chen
- MIIT Key Laboratory of Thermal Control of Electronic Equipment, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China.
| | - Ying Zhang
- MIIT Key Laboratory of Thermal Control of Electronic Equipment, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China.
| | - Qiang Li
- MIIT Key Laboratory of Thermal Control of Electronic Equipment, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China.
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16
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Roudsari G, Veshki FG, Reischl B, Pakarinen OH. Liquid Water and Interfacial, Cubic, and Hexagonal Ice Classification through Eclipsed and Staggered Conformation Template Matching. J Phys Chem B 2021; 125:3909-3917. [PMID: 33844543 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.1c01926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
We propose a novel method based on template matching for the recognition of liquid water, cubic ice (ice Ic), hexagonal ice (ice Ih), clathrate hydrates, and different interfacial structures in atomistic and coarse-grained simulations of water and ice. The two template matrices represent staggered and eclipsed conformations, which are the building blocks of hexagonal and cubic ice and clathrate crystals. The algorithm is rotationally invariant and highly robust against imperfections in the ice structure, and its sensitivity for recognizing ice-like structures can be tuned for different applications. Unlike most other algorithms, it can discriminate between cubic, hexagonal, clathrate, mixed, and other interfacial ice types and is therefore well suited to study complex systems and heterogeneous ice nucleation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Golnaz Roudsari
- Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research/Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, Helsinki FI-00014, Finland
| | - Farshad G Veshki
- Department of Signal Processing and Acoustics, School of Electrical Engineering, Aalto University, P.O. Box 11000, Espoo FI-00076, Finland
| | - Bernhard Reischl
- Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research/Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, Helsinki FI-00014, Finland
| | - Olli H Pakarinen
- Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research/Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, Helsinki FI-00014, Finland
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17
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Cao P, Sheng J, Wu J, Ning F. Mechanical creep instability of nanocrystalline methane hydrates. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2021; 23:3615-3626. [PMID: 33524096 DOI: 10.1039/d0cp05896c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Mechanical creep behaviors of natural gas hydrates are of importance for understanding the mechanical instability of gas hydrate-bearing sediments on Earth. Limited by the experimental challenges, intrinsic creep mechanisms of nanocrystalline methane hydrates remain largely unknown yet at the molecular scale. Herein, using large-scale molecular dynamics simulations, mechanical creep behaviors of nanocrystalline methane hydrates are investigated. It is revealed that mechanical creep responses are greatly dictated by internal microstructures of crystalline grain size and external conditions of temperature and static stress. Interestingly, a long steady-state creep is observed in nanocrystalline methane hydrates, which can be described by a modified constitutive Bird-Dorn-Mukherjee model. Microstructural analysis shows that deformations of crystalline grains, grain boundary diffusion and grain boundary sliding collectively govern the mechanical creep behaviors of nanocrystalline methane hydrates. Furthermore, structural transformation also appears to be important in their mechanical creep behaviors. This study provides new insights into understanding the mechanical creep scenarios of gas hydrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pinqiang Cao
- School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430081, China.
| | - Jianlong Sheng
- School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430081, China.
| | - Jianyang Wu
- Department of Physics, Jiujiang Research Institute, Research Institute for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China.
| | - Fulong Ning
- Faculty of Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China.
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18
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Gilmore RAJ, Misquitta AJ, Dove MT. Methane hydrate clathrates: effects in the simulation of melting arising from the assumption of simple combining rules in interatomic potentials. MOLECULAR SIMULATION 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/08927022.2019.1572139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- R. A. J. Gilmore
- School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London, London UK
| | - A. J. Misquitta
- School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London, London UK
| | - M. T. Dove
- School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London, London UK
- Department of Physics, School of Sciences, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
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19
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Mohr S, Hoevelmann F, Wylde J, Schelero N, Sarria J, Purkayastha N, Ward Z, Navarro Acero P, Michalis VK. Ranking the Efficiency of Gas Hydrate Anti-agglomerants through Molecular Dynamic Simulations. J Phys Chem B 2021; 125:1487-1502. [PMID: 33529037 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c08969] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Using both computational and experimental methods, the capacity of four different surfactant molecules to inhibit the agglomeration of sII hydrate particles was assessed. The computational simulations were carried out using both steered and non-steered molecular dynamics (MD), simulating the coalescence process of a hydrate slab and a water droplet, both covered with surfactant molecules. The surfactants were ranked according to free energy calculations (steered MD) and the number of agglomeration events (non-steered MD). The experimental work was based on rocking cell measurements, determining the minimum effective dose necessary to inhibit agglomeration. Overall, good agreement was obtained between the performance predicted by the simulations and the experimental measurements. Moreover, the simulations allowed us to gain additional insights that are not directly accessible via experiments, such as an analysis of the mass density profiles, the diffusion coefficients, or the orientations of the long tails.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephan Mohr
- Nextmol (Bytelab Solutions SL), Barcelona 08018, Spain.,Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Barcelona 08034, Spain
| | | | - Jonathan Wylde
- Clariant Oil Services, Clariant Corporation, Houston, Texas 77258, United States.,Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, Scotland, U.K
| | | | - Juan Sarria
- Clariant Produkte (Deutschland) GmbH, Frankfurt 65933, Germany
| | | | - Zachary Ward
- Clariant Oil Services, Clariant Corporation, Houston, Texas 77258, United States
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20
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Cabrera-Ramírez A, Yanes-Rodríguez R, Prosmiti R. Computational density-functional approaches on finite-size and guest-lattice effects in CO 2@sII clathrate hydrate. J Chem Phys 2021; 154:044301. [PMID: 33514100 DOI: 10.1063/5.0039323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
We performed first-principles computations to investigate guest-host/host-host effects on the encapsulation of the CO2 molecule in sII clathrate hydrates from finite-size clusters up to periodic 3D crystal lattice systems. Structural and energetic properties were first computed for the individual and first-neighbors clathrate-like sII cages, where highly accurate ab initio quantum chemical methods are available nowadays, allowing in this way the assessment of the density functional (DFT) theoretical approaches employed. The performance of exchange-correlation functionals together with recently developed dispersion-corrected schemes was evaluated in describing interactions in both short-range and long-range regions of the potential. On this basis, structural relaxations of the CO2-filled and empty sII unit cells yield lattice and compressibility parameters comparable to experimental and previous theoretical values available for sII hydrates. According to these data, the CO2 enclathration in the sII clathrate cages is a stabilizing process, either by considering both guest-host and host-host interactions in the complete unit cell or only the guest-water energies for the individual clathrate-like sII cages. CO2@sII clathrates are predicted to be stable whatever the dispersion correction applied and in the case of single cage occupancy are found to be more stable than the CO2@sI structures. Our results reveal that DFT approaches could provide a good reasonable description of the underlying interactions, enabling the investigation of formation and transformation processes as a function of temperature and pressure.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Rita Prosmiti
- Institute of Fundamental Physics (IFF-CSIC), CSIC, Serrano 123, 28006 Madrid, Spain
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21
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Abstract
Hydrogen is recognized as the "future fuel" and the most promising alternative of fossil fuels due to its remarkable properties including exceptionally high energy content per unit mass (142 M J / k g ), low mass density, and massive environmental and economical upsides. A wide spectrum of methods in H 2 production, especially carbon-free approaches, H 2 purification, and H 2 storage have been investigated to bring this energy source closer to the technological deployment. Hydrogen hydrates are among the most intriguing material paradigms for H 2 storage due to their appealing properties such as low energy consumption for charge and discharge, safety, cost-effectiveness, and favorable environmental features. Here, we comprehensively discuss the progress in understanding of hydrogen clathrate hydrates with an emphasis on charging/discharging rate of H 2 (i.e. hydrate formation and dissociation rates) and the storage capacity. A thorough understanding on phase equilibrium of the hydrates and its variation through different materials is provided. The path toward ambient temperature and pressure hydrogen batteries with high storage capacity is elucidated. We suggest that the charging rate of H 2 in this storage medium and long cyclic performance are more immediate challenges than storage capacity for technological translation of this storage medium. This review and provided outlook establish a groundwork for further innovation on hydrogen hydrate systems for promising future of hydrogen fuel.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ali Davoodabadi
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Houston, 4726 Calhoun Road, Houston, TX 77204, USA
| | - Ashkan Mahmoudi
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Houston, 4726 Calhoun Road, Houston, TX 77204, USA
| | - Hadi Ghasemi
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Houston, 4726 Calhoun Road, Houston, TX 77204, USA
- Corresponding author
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22
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Mohr S, Pétuya R, Wylde J, Sarria J, Purkayastha N, Ward Z, Bodnar S, Tsimpanogiannis IN. Size dependence of the dissociation process of spherical hydrate particles via microsecond molecular dynamics simulations. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2021; 23:11180-11185. [DOI: 10.1039/d1cp01223a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
The dissociation process of spherical sII mixed methane–propane hydrate particles in liquid hydrocarbon was investigated via microsecond-long molecular dynamics simulations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephan Mohr
- Nextmol (Bytelab Solutions SL)
- Barcelona
- Spain
- Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC)
- Barcelona
| | - Rémi Pétuya
- Nextmol (Bytelab Solutions SL)
- Barcelona
- Spain
| | - Jonathan Wylde
- Clariant Oil Services, Clariant Corporation
- Houston
- USA
- Heriot Watt University
- Edinburgh
| | - Juan Sarria
- Clariant Produkte (Deutschland) GmbH
- Frankfurt
- Germany
| | | | - Zachary Ward
- Clariant Oil Services, Clariant Corporation
- Houston
- USA
| | - Scot Bodnar
- Clariant Oil Services, Clariant Corporation
- Houston
- USA
| | - Ioannis N. Tsimpanogiannis
- Chemical Process & Energy Resources Institute (CPERI)
- Centre for Research & Technology Hellas (CERTH)
- Thermi-Thessaloniki
- Greece
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23
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Gadea ED, Perez Sirkin YA, Molinero V, Scherlis DA. Electrochemically Generated Nanobubbles: Invariance of the Current with Respect to Electrode Size and Potential. J Phys Chem Lett 2020; 11:6573-6579. [PMID: 32692923 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c01404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Gas-producing electrochemical reactions are key to energy conversion and generation technologies. Bubble formation dramatically decreases gas-production rates on nanoelectrodes, by confining the reaction to the electrode boundary. This results in the collapse of the current to a stationary value independent of the potential. Startlingly, these residual currents also appear to be insensitive to the nanoelectrode diameter in the 5 to 500 nm range. These results are counterintuitive, as it may be expected that the current be proportional to the circumference of the electrode, i.e., the length of the three-phase line where the reaction occurs. Here, we use molecular simulations and a kinetic model to elucidate the origin of current insensitivity with respect to the potential and establish its relationship to the size of nanoelectrodes. We provide critical insights for the design and operation of nanoscale electrochemical devices and demonstrate that nanoelectrode arrays maximize conversion rates compared to macroscopic electrodes with same total area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esteban D Gadea
- Departamento de Quı́mica Inorgánica, Analı́tica y Quı́mica Fı́sica/INQUIMAE, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, Pab. II, Buenos Aires C1428EHA, Argentina
| | - Yamila A Perez Sirkin
- Departamento de Quı́mica Inorgánica, Analı́tica y Quı́mica Fı́sica/INQUIMAE, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, Pab. II, Buenos Aires C1428EHA, Argentina
| | - Valeria Molinero
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Utah, 315 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0850, United States
| | - Damian A Scherlis
- Departamento de Quı́mica Inorgánica, Analı́tica y Quı́mica Fı́sica/INQUIMAE, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, Pab. II, Buenos Aires C1428EHA, Argentina
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24
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Cao P, Ning F, Wu J, Cao B, Li T, Sveinsson HA, Liu Z, Vlugt TJH, Hyodo M. Mechanical Response of Nanocrystalline Ice-Contained Methane Hydrates: Key Role of Water Ice. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2020; 12:14016-14028. [PMID: 32134246 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c00972] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Water ice and gas hydrates can coexist in the permafrost and polar regions on Earth and in the universe. However, the role of ice in the mechanical response of ice-contained methane hydrates is still unclear. Here, we conduct direct million-atom molecular simulations of ice-contained polycrystalline methane hydrates and identify a crossover in the tensile strength and average compressive flow stress due to the presence of ice. The average mechanical shear strengths of hydrate-hydrate bicrystals are about three times as large as those of hydrate-ice bicrystals. The ice content, especially below 70%, shows a significant effect on the mechanical strengths of the polycrystals, which is mainly governed by the proportions of the hydrate-hydrate grain boundaries (HHGBs), the hydrate-ice grain boundaries (HIGBs), and the ice-ice grain boundaries (IIGBs). Quantitative analysis of the microstructure of the water cages in the polycrystals reveals the dissociation and reformation of various water cages due to mechanical deformation. These findings provide molecular insights into the mechanical behavior and microscopic deformation mechanisms of ice-contained methane hydrate systems on Earth and in the universe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pinqiang Cao
- Faculty of Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia 20052, United States
- Department of Physics, Jiujiang Research Institute, Research Institute for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Fulong Ning
- Faculty of Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
- Laboratory for Marine Mineral Resources, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266237, China
- National Center for International Research on Deep Earth Drilling and Resource Development, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
| | - Jianyang Wu
- Department of Physics, Jiujiang Research Institute, Research Institute for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
- NTNU Nanomechanical Lab, Department of Structural Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim N-7491, Norway
| | - Boxiao Cao
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia 20052, United States
| | - Tianshu Li
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia 20052, United States
| | | | - Zhichao Liu
- Faculty of Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
- National Center for International Research on Deep Earth Drilling and Resource Development, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
| | - Thijs J H Vlugt
- Process & Energy Department, Delft University of Technology, Leeghwaterstraat 39, 2628CB Delft, The Netherlands
| | - Masayuki Hyodo
- Graduate School of Science and Technology for Innovation, Yamaguchi University, Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi 753-8511, Japan
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25
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Chang CC, Liu CY, Sun YC. Effective methane conversion to methanol on bi-functional graphene-oxide-supported platinum nanoclusters (Pt 5) - a DFT study. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2020; 22:4967-4973. [PMID: 32073010 DOI: 10.1039/c9cp06002b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Nowadays identifying a high-performance catalyst for converting methane to methanol is crucial because methanol serves as an excellent energy source and has wide chemical applications. In the present study, we used DFT, a computational chemistry method, to investigate the reaction mechanism of methanol production by conversion of methane on Pt5 nanoparticles supported on graphene oxide (GO) substrates. Computational results predicted that the Pt5/GO system exhibits excellent catalysis efficiency, compared with those of the previously examined Pt2/GO and Pt2O2/GO systems. Energetics of examined molecular species and the reaction mechanism showed that the Pt5/GO system exhibits high stability in this catalysis reaction and catalyzes the reaction efficiently. Moreover, between the two investigated surfaces GO and UGO, GO performed better and should be a promising catalyst support to convert methane into methanol.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chun-Chih Chang
- Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Chinese Culture University, No. 55, Hwa-Kang Road, Yang-Ming-Shan, Taipei 11114, Taiwan.
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26
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Hussain S, Haji-Akbari A. Studying rare events using forward-flux sampling: Recent breakthroughs and future outlook. J Chem Phys 2020; 152:060901. [DOI: 10.1063/1.5127780] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Sarwar Hussain
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
| | - Amir Haji-Akbari
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
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27
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Naullage PM, Molinero V. Slow Propagation of Ice Binding Limits the Ice-Recrystallization Inhibition Efficiency of PVA and Other Flexible Polymers. J Am Chem Soc 2020; 142:4356-4366. [DOI: 10.1021/jacs.9b12943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Pavithra M. Naullage
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0850, United States
| | - Valeria Molinero
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0850, United States
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28
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Castillo-Borja F, Bravo-Sánchez UI, Vázquez-Román R, Díaz-Ovalle CO. Biogas purification via sII hydrates in the presence of THF and DMSO solutions using MD simulations. J Mol Liq 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.molliq.2019.111904] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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29
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Factorovich MH, Naullage PM, Molinero V. Can clathrates heterogeneously nucleate ice? J Chem Phys 2019; 151:114707. [DOI: 10.1063/1.5119823] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Matías H. Factorovich
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Utah, 315 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0850, USA
| | - Pavithra M. Naullage
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Utah, 315 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0850, USA
| | - Valeria Molinero
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Utah, 315 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0850, USA
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30
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Islam NN, Sharma A, Gyawali G, Kumar R, Rick SW. Coarse-Grained Models for Constant pH Simulations of Carboxylic Acids. J Chem Theory Comput 2019; 15:4623-4631. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.9b00159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Naeyma N. Islam
- Department of Chemistry, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana 70148, United States
| | - Arjun Sharma
- Department of Chemistry, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana 70148, United States
| | - Gaurav Gyawali
- Department of Chemistry, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana 70148, United States
| | - Revati Kumar
- Department of Chemistry, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70808, United States
| | - Steven W. Rick
- Department of Chemistry, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana 70148, United States
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31
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Perez Sirkin YA, Gadea ED, Scherlis DA, Molinero V. Mechanisms of Nucleation and Stationary States of Electrochemically Generated Nanobubbles. J Am Chem Soc 2019; 141:10801-10811. [DOI: 10.1021/jacs.9b04479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yamila A. Perez Sirkin
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Utah, 315 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0850, United States
- Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Analítica y Química Física/INQUIMAE, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, Pab. II, Buenos Aires C1428EHA, Argentina
| | - Esteban D. Gadea
- Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Analítica y Química Física/INQUIMAE, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, Pab. II, Buenos Aires C1428EHA, Argentina
| | - Damian A. Scherlis
- Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Analítica y Química Física/INQUIMAE, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, Pab. II, Buenos Aires C1428EHA, Argentina
| | - Valeria Molinero
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Utah, 315 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0850, United States
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32
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Marriott M, Lupi L, Kumar A, Molinero V. Following the nucleation pathway from disordered liquid to gyroid mesophase. J Chem Phys 2019; 150:164902. [PMID: 31042878 DOI: 10.1063/1.5081850] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Mesophases have order intermediate between liquids and crystals and arise in systems with frustration, such as surfactants, block copolymers, and Janus nanoparticles. The gyroid mesophase contains two interpenetrated, nonintersecting chiral networks that give it properties useful for photonics. It is challenging to nucleate a gyroid from the liquid. Elucidating the reaction coordinate for gyroid nucleation could assist in designing additives that facilitate the formation of the mesophase. However, the complexity of the gyroid structure and the extreme weakness of the first-order liquid to gyroid transition make this a challenging quest. Here, we investigate the pathway and transition states for the nucleation of a gyroid from the liquid in molecular simulations with a mesogenic binary mixture. We find that the gyroid nuclei at the transition states have a large degree of positional disorder and are not compact, consistent with the low surface free energy of the liquid-gyroid interface. A combination of bond-order parameters for the minor component is best to describe the passage from liquid to gyroid, among those we consider. The committor analyses, however, show that this best coordinate is not perfect and suggests that accounting for the relative ordering of the two interpenetrated networks in infant nuclei, as well as for signatures of ordering in the major component of the mesophase, would improve the accuracy of the reaction coordinate for gyroid formation and its use to evaluate nucleation barriers. To our knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the reaction coordinate and critical nuclei for the formation of any mesophase from an amorphous phase.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maile Marriott
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Utah, 315 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-085, USA
| | - Laura Lupi
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Utah, 315 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-085, USA
| | - Abhinaw Kumar
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Utah, 315 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-085, USA
| | - Valeria Molinero
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Utah, 315 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-085, USA
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33
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Hudait A, Qiu Y, Odendahl N, Molinero V. Hydrogen-Bonding and Hydrophobic Groups Contribute Equally to the Binding of Hyperactive Antifreeze and Ice-Nucleating Proteins to Ice. J Am Chem Soc 2019; 141:7887-7898. [DOI: 10.1021/jacs.9b02248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Arpa Hudait
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Utah, 315 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0850, United States
| | - Yuqing Qiu
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Utah, 315 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0850, United States
| | - Nathan Odendahl
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Utah, 315 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0850, United States
| | - Valeria Molinero
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Utah, 315 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0850, United States
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34
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Naullage P, Bertolazzo AA, Molinero V. How Do Surfactants Control the Agglomeration of Clathrate Hydrates? ACS CENTRAL SCIENCE 2019; 5:428-439. [PMID: 30937370 PMCID: PMC6439454 DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.8b00755] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2018] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Clathrate hydrates can spontaneously form under typical conditions found in oil and gas pipelines. The agglomeration of clathrates into large solid masses plugs the pipelines, posing adverse safety, economic, and environmental threats. Surfactants are customarily used to prevent the aggregation of clathrate particles and their coalescence with water droplets. It is generally assumed that a large contact angle between the surfactant-covered clathrate and water is a key predictor of the antiagglomerant performance of the surfactant. Here we use molecular dynamic simulations to investigate the structure and dynamics of surfactant films at the clathrate-oil interface, and their impact on the contact angle and coalescence between water droplets and hydrate particles. In agreement with the experiments, the simulations predict that surfactant-covered clathrate-oil interfaces are oil wet but super-hydrophobic to water. Although the water contact angle determines the driving force for coalescence, we find that a large contact angle is not sufficient to predict good antiagglomerant performance of a surfactant. We conclude that the length of the surfactant molecules, the density of the interfacial film, and the strength of binding of its molecules to the clathrate surface are the main factors in preventing the coalescence and agglomeration of clathrate particles with water droplets in oil. Our analysis provides a molecular foundation to guide the molecular design of effective clathrate antiagglomerants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pavithra
M. Naullage
- Department
of Chemistry, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0850, United States
| | - Andressa A. Bertolazzo
- Department
of Chemistry, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0850, United States
- Departamento
de Ciências Exatas e Educação, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil
| | - Valeria Molinero
- Department
of Chemistry, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0850, United States
- E-mail:
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35
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Islam N, Flint M, Rick SW. Water hydrogen degrees of freedom and the hydrophobic effect. J Chem Phys 2019; 150:014502. [DOI: 10.1063/1.5053239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Naeyma Islam
- Department of Chemistry, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana 70148, USA
| | - Mahalia Flint
- Department of Chemistry, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana 70148, USA
| | - Steven W. Rick
- Department of Chemistry, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana 70148, USA
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36
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Sveinsson HA, Malthe-Sørenssen A. Molecular-scale thermally activated fractures in methane hydrates: a molecular dynamics study. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2019; 21:13539-13544. [DOI: 10.1039/c9cp01337g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Cage by cage slow fracture initiation in methane hydrates is consistent with a thermal activation model.
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37
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Kumar A, Nguyen AH, Okumu R, Shepherd TD, Molinero V. Could Mesophases Play a Role in the Nucleation and Polymorph Selection of Zeolites? J Am Chem Soc 2018; 140:16071-16086. [DOI: 10.1021/jacs.8b06664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Abhinaw Kumar
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Utah, 315 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0850, United States
| | - Andrew H. Nguyen
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Utah, 315 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0850, United States
| | - Rita Okumu
- Department of Chemistry, Westminster College, 1840 South 1300 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84105, United States
| | - Tricia D. Shepherd
- Department of Chemistry, Westminster College, 1840 South 1300 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84105, United States
| | - Valeria Molinero
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Utah, 315 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0850, United States
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38
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Arismendi-Arrieta DJ, Valdés Á, Prosmiti R. A Systematic Protocol for Benchmarking Guest-Host Interactions by First-Principles Computations: Capturing CO 2 in Clathrate Hydrates. Chemistry 2018; 24:9353-9363. [PMID: 29600599 DOI: 10.1002/chem.201800497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2018] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Clathrate hydrates of CO2 have been proposed as potential molecular materials in tackling important environmental problems related to greenhouse gases capture and storage. Despite the increasing interest in such hydrates and their technological applications, a molecular-level understanding of their formation and properties is still far from complete. Modeling interactions is a challenging and computationally demanding task, essential to reliably determine molecular properties. First-principles calculations for the CO2 guest in all sI, sII, and sH clathrate cages were performed, and the nature of the guest-host interactions, dominated by both hydrogen-bond and van der Waals forces, was systematically investigated. Different families of density functionals, as well as pairwise CO2 @H2 O model potentials versus wavefunction-based quantum approaches were studied for CO2 clathrate-like systems. Benchmark energies for new distance-dependent datasets, consisting of potential energy curves sampling representative configurations of the systems at the repulsive, near-equilibrium, and asymptotic/long-range regions of the full-dimensional surface, were generated, and a general protocol was proposed to assess the accuracy of such conventional and modern approaches at minimum and non-minimum orientations. Our results show that dispersion interactions are important in the guest-host stabilization energies of such clathrate cages, and the encapsulation of the CO2 into guest-free clathrate cages is always energetically favorable. In addition, the orientation of CO2 inside each cage was explored, and the ability of current promising approaches to accurately describe non-covalent CO2 @H2 O guest-host interactions in sI, sII, and sH clathrates was discussed, providing information for their applicability to future multiscale computer simulations.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Álvaro Valdés
- Departamento de Física, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Calle 26, Cra 39, Edificio, 404, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Rita Prosmiti
- Institute of Fundamental Physics (IFF-CSIC), CSIC, Serrano 123, 28006, Madrid, Spain
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39
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Bertolazzo AA, Naullage PM, Peters B, Molinero V. The Clathrate-Water Interface Is Oleophilic. J Phys Chem Lett 2018; 9:3224-3231. [PMID: 29812945 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b01210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
The slow nucleation of clathrate hydrates is a central challenge for their use in the storage and transportation of natural gas. Molecules that strongly adsorb to the clathrate-water interface decrease the crystal-water surface tension, lowering the barrier for clathrate nucleation. Surfactants are widely used to promote the nucleation and growth of clathrate hydrates. It has been proposed that these amphiphilic molecules bind to the clathrate surface via hydrogen bonding. However, recent studies reveal that PVCap, an amphiphilic polymer, binds to clathrates through hydrophobic moieties. Here we use molecular dynamic simulations and theory to investigate the mode and strength of binding of surfactants to the clathrate-water interface and their effect on the nucleation rate. We find that the surfactants bind to the clathrate-water interface exclusively through their hydrophobic tails. The binding is strong, driven by the entropy of dehydration of the alkyl chain, as it penetrates empty cavities at the hydrate surface. The hydrophobic attraction of alkyl groups to the clathrate surface also results in strong adsorption of alkanes. We identify two regimes for the binding of surfactants as a function of their density at the hydrate surface, which we interpret to correspond to the two steps of the Langmuir adsorption isotherm observed in experiments. Our results indicate that hydrophobic attraction to the clathrate-water interface is key for the design of soluble additives that promote the nucleation of hydrates. We use the calculated adsorption coefficients to estimate the concentration of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) required to reach nucleation rates for methane hydrate consistent with those measured in experiments. To our knowledge, this study is the first to quantify the effect of surfactant concentration in the nucleation rate of clathrate hydrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andressa A Bertolazzo
- Department of Chemistry , The University of Utah , Salt Lake City , Utah 84112-0580 , United States
- Departamento de Ciências Exatas e Educação , Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina , Blumenau , State of Santa Catarina 88040-900 , Brazil
| | - Pavithra M Naullage
- Department of Chemistry , The University of Utah , Salt Lake City , Utah 84112-0580 , United States
| | - Baron Peters
- Department of Chemical Engineering , University of California , Santa Barbara , California 93106 , United States
| | - Valeria Molinero
- Department of Chemistry , The University of Utah , Salt Lake City , Utah 84112-0580 , United States
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40
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Bi Y, Porras A, Li T. Free energy landscape and molecular pathways of gas hydrate nucleation. J Chem Phys 2018; 145:211909. [PMID: 28799352 DOI: 10.1063/1.4961241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite the significance of gas hydrates in diverse areas, a quantitative knowledge of hydrate formation at a molecular level is missing. The impediment to acquiring this understanding is primarily attributed to the stochastic nature and ultra-fine scales of nucleation events, posing a great challenge for both experiment and simulation to explore hydrate nucleation. Here we employ advanced molecular simulation methods, including forward flux sampling (FFS), pB histogram analysis, and backward flux sampling, to overcome the limit of direct molecular simulation for exploring both the free energy landscape and molecular pathways of hydrate nucleation. First we test the half-cage order parameter (H-COP) which we developed for driving FFS, through conducting the pB histogram analysis. Our results indeed show that H-COP describes well the reaction coordinates of hydrate nucleation. Through the verified order parameter, we then directly compute the free energy landscape for hydrate nucleation by combining both forward and backward flux sampling. The calculated stationary distribution density, which is obtained independently of nucleation theory, is found to fit well against the classical nucleation theory (CNT). Subsequent analysis of the obtained large ensemble of hydrate nucleation trajectories show that although on average, hydrate formation is facilitated by a two-step like mechanism involving a gradual transition from an amorphous to a crystalline structure, there also exist nucleation pathways where hydrate crystallizes directly, without going through the amorphous stage. The CNT-like free energy profile and the structural diversity suggest the existence of multiple active transition pathways for hydrate nucleation, and possibly also imply the near degeneracy in their free energy profiles among different pathways. Our results thus bring a new perspective to the long standing question of how hydrates crystallize.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuanfei Bi
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, George Washington University, Washington DC 20052, USA
| | - Anna Porras
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, George Washington University, Washington DC 20052, USA
| | - Tianshu Li
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, George Washington University, Washington DC 20052, USA
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41
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Warrier P, Khan MN, Srivastava V, Maupin CM, Koh CA. Overview: Nucleation of clathrate hydrates. J Chem Phys 2018; 145:211705. [PMID: 28799342 DOI: 10.1063/1.4968590] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Molecular level knowledge of nucleation and growth of clathrate hydrates is of importance for advancing fundamental understanding on the nature of water and hydrophobic hydrate formers, and their interactions that result in the formation of ice-like solids at temperatures higher than the ice-point. The stochastic nature and the inability to probe the small length and time scales associated with the nucleation process make it very difficult to experimentally determine the molecular level changes that lead to the nucleation event. Conversely, for this reason, there have been increasing efforts to obtain this information using molecular simulations. Accurate knowledge of how and when hydrate structures nucleate will be tremendously beneficial for the development of sustainable hydrate management strategies in oil and gas flowlines, as well as for their application in energy storage and recovery, gas separation, carbon sequestration, seawater desalination, and refrigeration. This article reviews various aspects of hydrate nucleation. First, properties of supercooled water and ice nucleation are reviewed briefly due to their apparent similarity to hydrates. Hydrate nucleation is then reviewed starting from macroscopic observations as obtained from experiments in laboratories and operations in industries, followed by various hydrate nucleation hypotheses and hydrate nucleation driving force calculations based on the classical nucleation theory. Finally, molecular simulations on hydrate nucleation are discussed in detail followed by potential future research directions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pramod Warrier
- Center for Hydrate Research, Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA
| | - M Naveed Khan
- Center for Hydrate Research, Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA
| | - Vishal Srivastava
- Center for Hydrate Research, Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA
| | - C Mark Maupin
- Center for Hydrate Research, Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA
| | - Carolyn A Koh
- Center for Hydrate Research, Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA
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42
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Kumar A, Molinero V. Why Is Gyroid More Difficult to Nucleate from Disordered Liquids than Lamellar and Hexagonal Mesophases? J Phys Chem B 2018; 122:4758-4770. [PMID: 29620902 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.8b02381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Block copolymers, surfactants, and biomolecules form lamellar, hexagonal, and gyroid mesophases. Across these systems, the nucleation of lamellar from the disordered liquid is the easiest and the nucleation of gyroid the most challenging. This poses the question of what are the factors that determine the rates of nucleation of the mesophases and whether they are controlled by the complexity of the structures or the thermodynamics of nucleation. Here, we use molecular simulations to investigate the nucleation and thermodynamics of lamellar, hexagonal, and gyroid in a binary mixture of particles that produces the same mesophases as those of surfactants and block copolymers. We demonstrate that a combination of averaged bond-order parameters q̅2 and q̅8 identifies and distinguishes the three mesophases. We use these parameters to track the microscopic process of nucleation of each mesophase and investigate the existence of heterogeneous nucleation (cross-nucleation) between mesophases. We estimate the surface tensions of the liquid/mesophase interfaces from nucleation rates using classical nucleation theory and find that they are comparable for the three mesophases with values that are about a third of those expected for liquid-crystal interfaces. The driving forces for nucleation, on the other hand, are quite different and increase in the order gyroid < hexagonal < lamellar at any temperature. We find that the nucleation rates of the mesophases follow the order of their driving forces. We conclude that the difficulty to nucleate the gyroid originates in its lower temperature of melting and extremely low entropy of melting compared to those of the hexagonal and lamellar mesophases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abhinaw Kumar
- Department of Chemistry , The University of Utah , 315 South 1400 East , Salt Lake City , Utah 84112-0850 , United States
| | - Valeria Molinero
- Department of Chemistry , The University of Utah , 315 South 1400 East , Salt Lake City , Utah 84112-0850 , United States
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43
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Coarse-Grained Simulations of Aqueous Thermoresponsive Polyethers. Polymers (Basel) 2018; 10:polym10050475. [PMID: 30966509 PMCID: PMC6415429 DOI: 10.3390/polym10050475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2018] [Revised: 04/11/2018] [Accepted: 04/12/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Thermoresponsive polymers can change structure or solubility as a function of temperature. Block co-polymers of polyethers have a response that depends on polymer molecular weight and co-polymer composition. A coarse-grained model for aqueous polyethers is developed and applied to polyethylene oxide and polyethylene oxide-polypropylene oxide-polyethylene oxide triblock co-polymers. In this model, no interaction sites on hydrogen atoms are included, no Coulombic interactions are present, and all interactions are short-ranged, treated with a combination of two- and three-body terms. Our simulations find that The triblock co-polymers tend to associate at temperatures above 350 K. The aggregation is stabilized by contact between The hydrophobic methyl groups on The propylene oxide monomers and involves a large, favorable change in entropy.
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44
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Naullage PM, Qiu Y, Molinero V. What Controls the Limit of Supercooling and Superheating of Pinned Ice Surfaces? J Phys Chem Lett 2018; 9:1712-1720. [PMID: 29544050 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b00300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Cold-adapted organisms produce antifreeze proteins and glycoproteins to control the growth, melting and recrystallization of ice. It has been proposed that these molecules pin the crystal surface, creating a curvature that arrests the growth and melting of the crystal. Here we use thermodynamic modeling and molecular simulations to demonstrate that the curvature of the superheated or supercooled surface depends on the temperature and distances between ice-binding molecules, but not the details of their interactions with ice. We perform simulations of ice pinned with the antifreeze protein TmAFP, polyvinyl alcohol with different degrees of polymerization, and model ice-binding molecules to determine the thermal hystereses on melting and freezing, i.e. the maximum curvature that can be attained before, respectively, ice melts or grows irreversibly over the ice-binding molecules. We find that the thermal hysteresis is controlled by the bulkiness of the ice-binding molecules and their footprint at the ice surface. We elucidate the origin of the asymmetry between freezing and melting hysteresis found in experiments and propose guidelines to design synthetic antifreeze molecules with potent thermal hysteresis activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pavithra M Naullage
- Department of Chemistry , The University of Utah , 315 South 1400 East , Salt Lake City , Utah 84112-0850 , United States
| | - Yuqing Qiu
- Department of Chemistry , The University of Utah , 315 South 1400 East , Salt Lake City , Utah 84112-0850 , United States
| | - Valeria Molinero
- Department of Chemistry , The University of Utah , 315 South 1400 East , Salt Lake City , Utah 84112-0850 , United States
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45
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Cox SJ, Taylor DJF, Youngs TGA, Soper AK, Totton TS, Chapman RG, Arjmandi M, Hodges MG, Skipper NT, Michaelides A. Formation of Methane Hydrate in the Presence of Natural and Synthetic Nanoparticles. J Am Chem Soc 2018; 140:3277-3284. [PMID: 29401390 PMCID: PMC5860788 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.7b12050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
![]()
Natural gas hydrates occur widely
on the ocean-bed and in permafrost
regions, and have potential as an untapped energy resource. Their
formation and growth, however, poses major problems for the energy
sector due to their tendency to block oil and gas pipelines, whereas
their melting is viewed as a potential contributor to climate change.
Although recent advances have been made in understanding bulk methane
hydrate formation, the effect of impurity particles, which are always
present under conditions relevant to industry and the environment,
remains an open question. Here we present results from neutron scattering
experiments and molecular dynamics simulations that show that the
formation of methane hydrate is insensitive to the addition of a wide
range of impurity particles. Our analysis shows that this is due to
the different chemical natures of methane and water, with methane
generally excluded from the volume surrounding the nanoparticles.
This has important consequences for our understanding of the mechanism
of hydrate nucleation and the design of new inhibitor molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen J Cox
- Department of Chemistry , University College London , 20 Gordon Street , London WC1H 0AJ , United Kingdom.,Thomas Young Centre and London Centre for Nanotechnology , 17-19 Gordon Street , London WC1H 0AH , United Kingdom
| | - Diana J F Taylor
- Thomas Young Centre and London Centre for Nanotechnology , 17-19 Gordon Street , London WC1H 0AH , United Kingdom.,Department of Physics and Astronomy , University College London , Gower Street , London WC1E 6BT , United Kingdom
| | - Tristan G A Youngs
- ISIS Facility , STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory , Harwell Oxford , Didcot OX11 0QX , United Kingdom
| | - Alan K Soper
- ISIS Facility , STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory , Harwell Oxford , Didcot OX11 0QX , United Kingdom
| | - Tim S Totton
- BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd , Chertsey Road , Sunbury-on-Thames TW16 7LN , United Kingdom
| | - Richard G Chapman
- BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd , Chertsey Road , Sunbury-on-Thames TW16 7LN , United Kingdom
| | - Mosayyeb Arjmandi
- BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd , Chertsey Road , Sunbury-on-Thames TW16 7LN , United Kingdom
| | - Michael G Hodges
- BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd , Chertsey Road , Sunbury-on-Thames TW16 7LN , United Kingdom
| | - Neal T Skipper
- Thomas Young Centre and London Centre for Nanotechnology , 17-19 Gordon Street , London WC1H 0AH , United Kingdom.,Department of Physics and Astronomy , University College London , Gower Street , London WC1E 6BT , United Kingdom
| | - Angelos Michaelides
- Thomas Young Centre and London Centre for Nanotechnology , 17-19 Gordon Street , London WC1H 0AH , United Kingdom.,Department of Physics and Astronomy , University College London , Gower Street , London WC1E 6BT , United Kingdom
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46
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León-Merino I, Rodríguez-Segundo R, Arismendi-Arrieta DJ, Prosmiti R. Assessing Intermolecular Interactions in Guest-Free Clathrate Hydrate Systems. J Phys Chem A 2018; 122:1479-1487. [PMID: 29328645 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.7b12107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Recently, empty hydrate structures sI, sII, sH, and others have been proposed as low-density ice structures by both experimental observations and computer simulations. Some of them have been synthesized in the laboratory, which motivates further investigations on the stability of such guest-free clathrate structures. Using semiempirical and ab initio-based water models, as well as dispersion-corrected density functional theory approaches, we predict their stability, including cooperative many-body effects, in comparison with reference data from converged wave function-based DF-MP2 electronic structure calculations. We show that large basis sets and counterpoise corrections are required to improve convergence in the interaction/binding energies for such systems. Therefore, extrapolation schemes based on triple/quadruple and quadruple/quintuple ζ quality basis sets are used to reach high accuracy. Eleven different water structures corresponding to dodecahedron, edge sharing, face sharing, and fused cubes, as a part of the WATER27 database, as well as cavities from the sI, sII, and sH clathrate hydrates formed by 20, 24, 28, and 36 water molecules, are employed, and new benchmark energies are reported. Using these benchmark sets of interaction energies, we assess the performance of both analytical models and direct DFT calculations for such clathrate-like systems. In particular, seven popular water models (TIP4P/ice, TIP4P/2005, q-TIP4P/F, TTM2-F, TTM3-F, TTM4-F, and MB-pol) available in the literature, and nine density functional approximations (3 meta-GGAs, 3 hybrids, and 3 range separated functionals) are used to investigate their accuracy. By including dispersion corrections, our results show that errors in the interaction energies are reduced for most of the DFT functionals. Despite the difficulties faced by current water models and DFT functionals to accurately describe the interactions in such water systems, we found some general trends that could serve to extend their applicability to larger systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iván León-Merino
- Institute of Fundamental Physics (IFF-CSIC), CSIC , Serrano 123, 28006 Madrid, Spain
| | | | | | - Rita Prosmiti
- Institute of Fundamental Physics (IFF-CSIC), CSIC , Serrano 123, 28006 Madrid, Spain
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47
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Lanaro G, Patey GN. The influence of ion hydration on nucleation and growth of LiF crystals in aqueous solution. J Chem Phys 2018; 148:024507. [DOI: 10.1063/1.5001521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- G. Lanaro
- Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - G. N. Patey
- Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada
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48
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Du P, Rick SW, Kumar R. Towards a coarse-grained model of the peptoid backbone: the case of N,N-dimethylacetamide. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2018; 20:23386-23396. [DOI: 10.1039/c8cp03283a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Coarse-grained model of DMA, containing the basic motif of the peptoid backbone, based on short ranged many-body ranged interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pu Du
- Department of Chemistry
- Louisiana State University
- Baton Rouge
- USA
| | - Steven W. Rick
- Department of Chemistry
- University of New Orleans
- New Orleans
- USA
| | - Revati Kumar
- Department of Chemistry
- Louisiana State University
- Baton Rouge
- USA
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Gyawali G, Sternfield S, Kumar R, Rick SW. Coarse-Grained Models of Aqueous and Pure Liquid Alkanes. J Chem Theory Comput 2017. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.7b00389] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Gaurav Gyawali
- Department of Chemistry, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana 70148, United States
| | - Samuel Sternfield
- Department of Chemistry, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana 70148, United States
| | - Revati Kumar
- Department
of Chemistry, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70808, United States
| | - Steven W. Rick
- Department of Chemistry, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana 70148, United States
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Choudhary N, Kushwaha OS, Bhattacharjee G, Chakrabarty S, Kumar R. Molecular Dynamics Simulation and Experimental Study on the Growth of Methane Hydrate in Presence of Methanol and Sodium Chloride. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.egypro.2017.03.1008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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