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Bellido-Peralta R, Leoni F, Calero C, Franzese G. Size-Pore-Dependent Methanol Sequestration from Water-Methanol Mixtures by an Embedded Graphene Slit. Molecules 2023; 28:molecules28093697. [PMID: 37175107 PMCID: PMC10179872 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28093697] [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: 03/24/2023] [Revised: 04/17/2023] [Accepted: 04/19/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The separation of liquid mixture components is relevant to many applications-ranging from water purification to biofuel production-and is a growing concern related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as "Clean water and Sanitation" and "Affordable and clean energy". One promising technique is using graphene slit-pores as filters, or sponges, because the confinement potentially affects the properties of the mixture components in different ways, favoring their separation. However, no systematic study has shown how the size of a pore changes the thermodynamics of the surrounding mixture. Here, we focus on water-methanol mixtures and explore, using Molecular Dynamics simulations, the effects of a graphene pore, with size ranging from 6.5 to 13 Å, for three compositions: pure water, 90%-10%, and 75%-25% water-methanol. We show that tuning the pore size can change the mixture pressure, density and composition in bulk due to the size-dependent methanol sequestration within the pore. Our results can help in optimizing the graphene pore size for filtering applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roger Bellido-Peralta
- Secció de Física Estadística i Interdisciplinària, Departament de Física de la Matèria Condensada, Universitat de Barcelona, Martí i Franquès 1, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Fabio Leoni
- Department of Physics, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Carles Calero
- Secció de Física Estadística i Interdisciplinària, Departament de Física de la Matèria Condensada, Universitat de Barcelona, Martí i Franquès 1, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Giancarlo Franzese
- Secció de Física Estadística i Interdisciplinària, Departament de Física de la Matèria Condensada, Universitat de Barcelona, Martí i Franquès 1, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
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Leoni F, Calero C, Franzese G. Nanoconfined Fluids: Uniqueness of Water Compared to Other Liquids. ACS NANO 2021; 15:19864-19876. [PMID: 34807577 PMCID: PMC8717635 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.1c07381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 11/18/2021] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Nanoconfinement can drastically change the behavior of liquids, puzzling us with counterintuitive properties. It is relevant in applications, including decontamination and crystallization control. However, it still lacks a systematic analysis for fluids with different bulk properties. Here we address this gap. We compare, by molecular dynamics simulations, three different liquids in a graphene slit pore: (1) A simple fluid, such as argon, described by a Lennard-Jones potential; (2) an anomalous fluid, such as a liquid metal, modeled with an isotropic core-softened potential; and (3) water, the prototypical anomalous liquid, with directional HBs. We study how the slit-pore width affects the structure, thermodynamics, and dynamics of the fluids. All the fluids show similar oscillating properties by changing the pore size. However, their free-energy minima are quite different in nature: (i) are energy-driven for the simple liquid; (ii) are entropy-driven for the isotropic core-softened potential; and (iii) have a changing nature for water. Indeed, for water, the monolayer minimum is entropy driven, at variance with the simple liquid, while the bilayer minimum is energy driven, at variance with the other anomalous liquid. Also, water has a large increase in diffusion for subnm slit pores, becoming faster than bulk. Instead, the other two fluids have diffusion oscillations much smaller than water, slowing down for decreasing slit-pore width. Our results, clarifying that water confined at the subnm scale behaves differently from other (simple or anomalous) fluids under similar confinement, are possibly relevant in nanopores applications, for example, in water purification from contaminants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabio Leoni
- Department
of Physics, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Carles Calero
- Secció
de Física Estadística i Interdisciplinària-Departament
de Física de la Matèria Condensada, Institut de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia (IN2UB), Universitat
de Barcelona, Carrer Martí i Franquès 1, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Giancarlo Franzese
- Secció
de Física Estadística i Interdisciplinària-Departament
de Física de la Matèria Condensada, Institut de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia (IN2UB), Universitat
de Barcelona, Carrer Martí i Franquès 1, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
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Water under extreme confinement in graphene: Oscillatory dynamics, structure, and hydration pressure explained as a function of the confinement width. J Mol Liq 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.molliq.2020.114027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
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Gavriil V, Chatzichristidi M, Christofilos D, Kourouklis GA, Kollia Z, Bakalis E, Cefalas AC, Sarantopoulou E. Entropy and Random Walk Trails Water Confinement and Non-Thermal Equilibrium in Photon-Induced Nanocavities. NANOMATERIALS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2020; 10:E1101. [PMID: 32498312 PMCID: PMC7353189 DOI: 10.3390/nano10061101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2020] [Revised: 05/18/2020] [Accepted: 05/22/2020] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Molecules near surfaces are regularly trapped in small cavitations. Molecular confinement, especially water confinement, shows intriguing and unexpected behavior including surface entropy adjustment; nevertheless, observations of entropic variation during molecular confinement are scarce. An experimental assessment of the correlation between surface strain and entropy during molecular confinement in tiny crevices is difficult because strain variances fall in the nanometer scale. In this work, entropic variations during water confinement in 2D nano/micro cavitations were observed. Experimental results and random walk simulations of water molecules inside different size nanocavitations show that the mean escaping time of molecular water from nanocavities largely deviates from the mean collision time of water molecules near surfaces, crafted by 157 nm vacuum ultraviolet laser light on polyacrylamide matrixes. The mean escape time distribution of a few molecules indicates a non-thermal equilibrium state inside the cavity. The time differentiation inside and outside nanocavities reveals an additional state of ordered arrangements between nanocavities and molecular water ensembles of fixed molecular length near the surface. The configured number of microstates correctly counts for the experimental surface entropy deviation during molecular water confinement. The methodology has the potential to identify confined water molecules in nanocavities with life science importance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vassilios Gavriil
- National Hellenic Research Foundation, Theoretical and Physical Chemistry Institute, 48 Vassileos Constantinou Avenue, 11635 Athens, Greece; (V.G.); (Z.K.); (E.B.); (A.-C.C.)
- School of Chemical Engineering and Physics Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Campus, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece; (D.C.); (G.A.K.)
| | - Margarita Chatzichristidi
- Department of Chemistry, Laboratory of Industrial Chemistry, Panepistimiopolis Zografou, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15771 Athens, Greece;
| | - Dimitrios Christofilos
- School of Chemical Engineering and Physics Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Campus, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece; (D.C.); (G.A.K.)
| | - Gerasimos A. Kourouklis
- School of Chemical Engineering and Physics Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Campus, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece; (D.C.); (G.A.K.)
| | - Zoe Kollia
- National Hellenic Research Foundation, Theoretical and Physical Chemistry Institute, 48 Vassileos Constantinou Avenue, 11635 Athens, Greece; (V.G.); (Z.K.); (E.B.); (A.-C.C.)
| | - Evangelos Bakalis
- National Hellenic Research Foundation, Theoretical and Physical Chemistry Institute, 48 Vassileos Constantinou Avenue, 11635 Athens, Greece; (V.G.); (Z.K.); (E.B.); (A.-C.C.)
- Dipartimento di Chimica “G. Giamician” University di Bologna, Via F. Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy
| | - Alkiviadis-Constantinos Cefalas
- National Hellenic Research Foundation, Theoretical and Physical Chemistry Institute, 48 Vassileos Constantinou Avenue, 11635 Athens, Greece; (V.G.); (Z.K.); (E.B.); (A.-C.C.)
| | - Evangelia Sarantopoulou
- National Hellenic Research Foundation, Theoretical and Physical Chemistry Institute, 48 Vassileos Constantinou Avenue, 11635 Athens, Greece; (V.G.); (Z.K.); (E.B.); (A.-C.C.)
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Tendong E, Dasgupta TS, Chakrabarti J. Dynamics of water trapped in transition metal oxide-graphene nano-confinement. JOURNAL OF PHYSICS. CONDENSED MATTER : AN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS JOURNAL 2020; 32:325101. [PMID: 32191936 DOI: 10.1088/1361-648x/ab814f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2020] [Accepted: 03/19/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Motivated by practical implementation of transition-metal oxide-graphene heterostructures, we use all atom molecular dynamics simulations to study dynamics of water in a nano slit bounded by a transition metal oxide surface, namely, TiO2termination of SrTiO3, and graphene. The resultant asymmetric, strong confinement produces square ice-like crystallites of water pinned at TiO2surface and drives enhanced hydrophobicity of graphene via the proximity effect to the hydrophilic TiO2surface. This importantly brings in dynamic heterogeneity, both in translational and rotational degrees of freedom, due to coupling between the slow relaxing, strongly adsorbed water layer at the hydrophilic oxide surface, and faster relaxation of subsequent water layers. The heterogeneity is signalled in the ruggedness of the effective free energy landscapes. We discuss possible implications of our findings in drug delivery.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Tendong
- Department of Condensed Matter Physics and Material Sciences & Department of Chemical Biological and Macromoleculer Sciences, S N Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Block JD, Sector III, Salt Lake, Kolkata - 700106, India
| | - T Saha Dasgupta
- Department of Condensed Matter Physics and Material Sciences & Department of Chemical Biological and Macromoleculer Sciences, S N Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Block JD, Sector III, Salt Lake, Kolkata - 700106, India
| | - J Chakrabarti
- Department of Condensed Matter Physics and Material Sciences,Thematic Unit of Excellence for Material Science & Technology Research Centre, S N Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Block JD, Sector III, Salt Lake, Kolkata - 700106, India
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Di Gioacchino M, Bianconi A, Burghammer M, Ciasca G, Bruni F, Campi G. Myelin basic protein dynamics from out-of-equilibrium functional state to degraded state in myelin. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-BIOMEMBRANES 2020; 1862:183256. [PMID: 32145283 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2020.183256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2019] [Revised: 02/28/2020] [Accepted: 03/02/2020] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Living matter is a quasi-stationary out-of-equilibrium system; in this physical condition, structural fluctuations at nano- and meso-scales are needed to understand the physics behind its biological functionality. Myelin has a simple ultrastructure whose fluctuations show correlated disorder in its functional out-of-equilibrium state. However, there is no information on the relationship between this correlated disorder and the dynamics of the intrinsically disordered Myelin Basic Protein (MBP) which is expected to influence the membrane structure and overall functionality. In this work, we have investigated the role of this protein structural dynamics in the myelin ultrastructure fluctuations in various conditions, by using synchrotron Scanning micro X Ray Diffraction and Small Angle X ray Scattering. We have induced the crossover from out-of-equilibrium functional state to in-equilibrium degeneration changing the pH to values far from physiological condition. The observed compression of the cytosolic layer thickness probes that the intrinsic large MBP fluctuations preserve the cytosol structure also in the degraded state. Thus, the transition of myelin ultrastructure from correlated to uncorrelated disordered state, is principally affected by the deformation of the membrane and extracellular domain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Di Gioacchino
- Dipartimento di Scienze, Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Via della Vasca Navale 84, 00146 Roma, Italy; Institute of Crystallography, CNR, via Salaria, Km 29.300, 00015 Monterotondo, Roma, Italy; Rome International Center for Materials Science Superstripes (RICMASS), Via dei Sabelli 119A, 00185 Roma, Italy.
| | - Antonio Bianconi
- Institute of Crystallography, CNR, via Salaria, Km 29.300, 00015 Monterotondo, Roma, Italy; Rome International Center for Materials Science Superstripes (RICMASS), Via dei Sabelli 119A, 00185 Roma, Italy; National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), 115409 Moscow, Russia
| | - Manfred Burghammer
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 6 Rue Jules Horowitz, BP220, 38043 Grenoble Cedex, France
| | - Gabriele Ciasca
- Physics Institute, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Largo F. Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Fabio Bruni
- Dipartimento di Scienze, Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Via della Vasca Navale 84, 00146 Roma, Italy
| | - Gaetano Campi
- Institute of Crystallography, CNR, via Salaria, Km 29.300, 00015 Monterotondo, Roma, Italy
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Water flow behaviour in nanochannels: the surface-force effect and slip length. SN APPLIED SCIENCES 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s42452-019-1225-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022] Open
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Teboul V, Rajonson G. Simulations of supercooled water under passive or active stimuli. J Chem Phys 2019; 150:214505. [DOI: 10.1063/1.5093353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Victor Teboul
- Laboratoire de Photonique d’Angers EA 4464, Physics Department, Université d’Angers, 2 Bd Lavoisier, 49045 Angers, France
| | - Gabriel Rajonson
- Laboratoire de Photonique d’Angers EA 4464, Physics Department, Université d’Angers, 2 Bd Lavoisier, 49045 Angers, France
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Zubeltzu J, Artacho E. Simulations of water nano-confined between corrugated planes. J Chem Phys 2017; 147:194509. [PMID: 29166107 DOI: 10.1063/1.5011468] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Water confined to nanoscale widths in two dimensions between ideal planar walls has been the subject of ample study, aiming at understanding the intrinsic response of water to confinement, avoiding the consideration of the chemistry of actual confining materials. In this work, we study the response of such nanoconfined water to the imposition of a periodicity in the confinement by means of computer simulations, both using empirical potentials and from first-principles. For that we propose a periodic confining potential emulating the atomistic oscillation of the confining walls, which allows varying the lattice parameter and amplitude of the oscillation. We do it for a triangular lattice, with several values of the lattice parameter: one which is ideal for commensuration with layers of Ih ice and other values that would correspond to more realistic substrates. For the former, the phase diagram shows an overall rise of the melting temperature. The liquid maintains a bi-layer triangular structure, however, despite the fact that it is not favoured by the external periodicity. The first-principles liquid is significantly affected by the modulation in its layering and stacking even at relatively small amplitudes of the confinement modulation. Beyond some critical modulation amplitude, the hexatic phase present in flat confinement is replaced by a trilayer crystalline phase unlike any of the phases encountered for flat confinement. For more realistic lattice parameters, the liquid does not display higher tendency to freeze, but it clearly shows inhomogeneous behaviour as the strength of the rugosity increases. In spite of this expected inhomogeneity, the structural and dynamical response of the liquid is surprisingly insensitive to the external modulation. Although the first-principles calculations give a more triangular liquid than the one observed with empirical potentials (TIP4P/2005), both agree remarkably well for the main conclusions of the study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jon Zubeltzu
- CIC nanoGUNE, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
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