Temperature dependent structure and dynamics in smectite interlayers: 23Na MAS NMR spectroscopy of Na-hectorite

Adsorption, Structure, and Dynamics of Short- and Long-Chain PFAS Molecules in Kaolinite: Molecular-Level Insights

The ubiquitous presence of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in different natural settings poses a serious threat to environmental and human health. Soils and sediments represent one of the important exposure pathways of PFAS for humans and animals. With increasing bioaccumulation and mobility, it is extremely important to understand the interactions of PFAS molecules with the dominant constituents of soils such as clay minerals. This study reports for the first time the fundamental molecular-level insights into the adsorption, interfacial structure, and dynamics of short- and long-chain PFAS molecules at the water-saturated mesopores of kaolinite clay using classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. At environmental conditions, all the PFAS molecules are exclusively adsorbed near the hydroxyl surface of the kaolinite, irrespective of the terminal functional groups and metal cations. The interfacial adsorption structures and coordination environments of PFAS are strongly dependent on the nature of the functional groups and their hydrophobic chain length. The formation of large, aggregated clusters of long-chain PFAS at the hydroxyl surface of kaolinite is responsible for their restricted dynamics in comparison to short-chain PFAS molecules. Such comprehensive knowledge of PFAS at the clay mineral interface is critical to developing novel site-specific degradation and mitigation strategies.

Water and Ion Dynamics in Confined Media: A Multi-Scale Study of the Clay/Water Interface

This review details a large panel of experimental studies (Inelastic Neutron Scattering, Quasi-Elastic Neutron Scattering, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance relaxometry, Pulsed-Gradient Spin-Echo attenuation, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging, macroscopic diffusion experiments) used recently to probe, over a large distribution of characteristic times (from pico-second up to days), the dynamical properties of water molecules and neutralizing cations diffusing within clay/water interfacial media. The purpose of this review is not to describe these various experimental methods in detail but, rather, to investigate the specific dynamical information obtained by each of them concerning these clay/water interfacial media. In addition, this review also illustrates the various numerical methods (quantum Density Functional Theory, classical Molecular Dynamics, Brownian Dynamics, macroscopic differential equations) used to interpret these various experimental data by analyzing the corresponding multi-scale dynamical processes. The purpose of this multi-scale study is to perform a bottom-up analysis of the dynamical properties of confined ions and water molecules, by using complementary experimental and numerical studies covering a broad range of diffusion times (between pico-seconds up to days) and corresponding diffusion lengths (between Angstroms and centimeters). In the context of such a bottom-up approach, the numerical modeling of the dynamical properties of the diffusing probes is based on experimental or numerical investigations performed on a smaller scale, thus avoiding the use of empirical or fitted parameters.

Intercalation-exfoliation processes during ionic exchange reactions from sodium lepidocrocite-type titanate toward a proton-based trititanate structure

Topochemical reactions involving ionic exchange have been used to assess a large number of metastable compositions, particularly in layered metal oxides. This method encompasses complex reactions that are poorly explored, yet are of prime importance to understand and control the materials' properties. In this work, we embark on investigating the reactions involved during the ionic exchange between a layered Na-titanate (lepidocrocite-type structure) and an acidic solution (HCl), leading to a protonic (H3O+) titanate (trititanate structure). The reactions involve an ionic exchange provoking a structural change from the lepidocrocite-type to the trititanate structure as shown by real-space refinements of ex situ pair distribution function data. Mobile Na+ ions are exchanged by hydronium ions inducing high proton mobility in the final structure. Moreover, the reaction was followed by ex situ23Na and 1H solid-state MAS NMR which allowed, among other things, confirming that the Na+ ions are in the interlayer space and specifying their local environment. Strikingly, the ionic exchange reaction induces progressive exfoliation of the Na-titanate particles leading to 2-5 nm thin elongated crystallites. To further understand the different steps associated with the ionic exchange, the evolution of the electrolytic conductivity, using conductimetric titration, has been monitored upon HCl addition, enabling characterization of the intercalation(H+)/de-intercalation(Na+) reactions and assessing kinetic parameters. Accordingly, it is hypothesized that the exfoliation of the particles is due to the accumulation of charges at the particle level in relation to the rapid intercalation of protons. This work provides novel insights into ionic exchange reactions involved in layered oxide compounds.

Probing NaCl hydrate formation from aqueous solutions by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy

The cooling-induced formation of a hydrate in aqueous NaCl solutions was probed using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS). It was found that the NaCl hydrate formation is accompanied by the emergence of four new absorption peaks at 1.60, 2.43, 3.34 and 3.78 THz. Combining X-ray diffraction measurements with solid-state based density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we assign the observed terahertz absorption peaks to the vibrational modes of the formed NaCl·2H2O hydrate during cooling. This work shows that THz-TDS based analysis has great potential in studying ionic hydrates and the newly revealed collective vibrational modes could be sensitive indicators to achieve quantitative analysis in phase transitions and lattice dynamics.