Distribution patterns and controllable transport of water inside and outside charged single-walled carbon nanotubes

The density distribution patterns of water inside and outside neutral and charged single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) soaked in water have been studied using molecular dynamics simulations based on TIP3P potential and Lennard-Jones parameters of CHARMM force field, in conjunction with ab initio calculations to provide the electron density distributions of the systems. Water molecules show different electropism near positively and negatively charged SWNTs. Different density distribution patterns of water, depending on the diameter and chirality of the SWNTs, are observed inside and outside the tube wall. These special distribution patterns formed can be explained in terms of the van der Waals and electrostatic interactions between the water molecules and the carbon atoms on the hexagonal network of carbon nanotubes. The electric field produced by the highly charged SWNTs leads to high filling speed of water molecules, while it prevents them from flowing out of the nanotube. Water molecules enter the neutral SWNTs slowly and can flow out of the nanotube in a fluctuating manner. It indicates that by adjusting the electric charge on the SWNTs, one can control the adsorption and transport behavior of polar molecules in SWNTs to be used as stable storage medium with template effect or transport channels. The transport rate can be tailored by changing the charge on the SWNTs.     

Structural characterization of single-walled carbon nanotube bundles by experiment and molecular simulation

A procedure, combining molecular simulation, Raman spectroscopy, and standard nitrogen adsorption, is developed for structural characterization of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) samples. Grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations of nitrogen adsorption are performed on the external and internal adsorption sites of homogeneous arrays of SWNTs of diameters previously determined by Raman spectroscopy of the sample. The results show the importance of the peripheral grooves of a nanotube bundle at low relative pressure and the insensitivity of nanotube diameter toward adsorption on the external surface of the bundle at higher pressures. Simulations also reveal that samples containing thin nanotubes have less internal adsorption capacity that saturates at lower pressure than those comprising large diameter nanotubes. The fraction of open-ended nanotubes in a sample can be estimated by scaling the simulated internal adsorption inside nanotubes to obtain a near perfect fit between simulated and experimental isotherms. This procedure allows extrapolation of adsorption properties to conditions in which all nanotubes in the sample are open-ended.     

Absorption and Structural Property of Ethanol/Water Mixture with Carbon Nanotubes

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are performed to study the structure and adsorption of ethanol/water mixture within carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Inside the (6,6) and (10,10) CNTs, there are always almost full of ethanol molecules and hardly water molecules. Inside wider CNTs, there are some water molecules, while the ethanol mass fractions inside the CNTs are still much higher than the corresponding bulk values. A series of structural analysis for the molecules inside and outside the CNTs are performed, including the distributions of radial, axial, angular density, orientation, and the number of hydrogen bonds. The angular density distribution of the molecules in the first solvation shell outside the CNTs indicates that the methyl groups of ethanol molecules have the strongest interaction with the carbon wall, and are pinned to the centers of the hexagons of the CNTs. Based on the understanding of the microscopic mechanism of these phenomena, we propose that the CNTs prefer to contain ethanol rather than methanol.     

Filled and empty states of carbon nanotubes in water: Dependence on nanotube diameter, wall thickness and dispersion interactions

We have carried out a series of molecular dynamics simulations of water containing a narrow carbon nanotube as a solute to investigate the filling and emptying of the nanotube and also the modifications of the density and hydrogen bond distributions of water inside and also in the vicinity of the outer surfaces of the nanotube. Our primary goal is to look at the effects of varying nanotube diameter, wall thickness and also solute-solvent interactions on the solvent structure in the confined region also near the outer surfaces of the solute. The thickness of the walls is varied by considering single and multi-walled nanotubes and the interaction potential is varied by tuning the attractive strength of the 12–6 pair interaction potential between a carbon atom of the nanotubes and a water molecule. The calculations are done for many different values of the tuning parameter ranging from fully Lennard-Jones to pure repulsive pair interactions. It is found that both the solvation characteristics and hydrogen bond distributions can depend rather strongly on the strength of the attractive part of the solute-water interaction potential. The thickness of the nanotube wall, however, is found to have only minor effects on the density profiles, hydrogen bond network and the wetting characteristics. This indicates that the long range electrostatic interactions between water molecules inside and on the outer side of the nanotube do not make any significant contribution to the overall solvation structure of these hydrophobic solutes. The solvation characteristics are primarily determined by the balance between the loss of energy due to hydrogen bond network disruption, cavity repulsion potential and offset of the same by attractive component of the solute-water interactions. Our studies with different system sizes show that the essential features of wetting and dewetting characteristics of narrow nanotubes for different diameter and interaction potentials are also present in relatively smaller systems consisting of about five hundred molecules. We dedicate this work to Professor Debashis Mukherjee on his 60th Birthday.     

CVD growth of single-walled carbon nanotubes with narrow diameter distribution over Fe/MgO catalyst and their fluorescence spectroscopy

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) with a narrow diameter distribution are synthesized by thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of methane over Fe/MgO catalyst on the basis of parametric study considering Fe loading, reaction temperature and time, methane concentration, and structure of a support material. We found that the porous MgO support gives the SWNTs with a narrow diameter distribution with the mean diameter and standard deviation of 0.93 and 0.06 nm, respectively, only when the Fe loading and reaction temperature are relatively low. The higher Fe loading and/or the higher reaction temperature enlarged the nanotube diameter, forming double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWNTs) in addition to SWNTs. This result indicates that only the diameter of Fe nanoparticles determines the growth of either SWNTs or DWNTs on the MgO support. The fluorescence and absorption spectra of the nanotube dispersion in D(2)O solution with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) were studied to identify their chirality distribution. The fluorescence of the uniform-diameter SWNTs indicates the formation of the near armchair structures. On the other hand, the SWNTs synthesized over the catalyst with a high Fe loading, 3 wt %, showed a wide chirality distribution including the near zigzag structure. The synthesis of the SWNTs with a narrow diameter distribution could be applied to the selection of SWNTs with a specific chirality based on postsynthesis separation.     

Molecular dynamics study of the catalyst particle size dependence on carbon nanotube growth

The molecular dynamics method, based on an empirical potential energy surface, was used to study the effect of catalyst particle size on the growth mechanism and structure of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). The temperature for nanotube nucleation (800-1100 K), which occurs on the surface of the cluster, is similar to that used in catalyst chemical vapor deposition experiments, and the growth mechanism, which is described within the vapor-liquid-solid model, is the same for all cluster sizes studied here (iron clusters containing between 10 and 200 atoms were simulated). Large catalyst particles, which contain at least 20 iron atoms, nucleate SWNTs that have a far better tubular structure than SWNTs nucleated from smaller clusters. In addition, the SWNTs that grow from the larger clusters have diameters that are similar to the cluster diameter, whereas the smaller clusters, which have diameters less than 0.5 nm, nucleate nanotubes that are approximately 0.6-0.7 nm in diameter. This is in agreement with the experimental observations that SWNT diameters are similar to the catalyst particle diameter, and that the narrowest free-standing SWNT is 0.6-0.7 nm.     

椅型碳纳米管吸附氧原子的密度泛函理论研究

利用密度泛函B3LYP对有限长扶手椅形单壁碳纳米管(3,3),(4,4)和(5,5)吸附O原子的几何结构、电子属性、反应能和红外光谱进行了系统地理论研究,获得了一些有意义的结果,主要包括如下4个方面:(1)2个O原子吸附在管外壁垂直于管轴的C—C键形成开环的轮烯结构,吸附在管内壁形成环氧结构;(2)O原子吸附在管外壁要比吸附在管内壁具有较大的能隙和吸附反应能;(3)与单壁碳纳米管管外壁吸附1个O原子相比,2个O原子吸附在管外壁具有较大的吸附反应能;(4)B3LYP得到的C—O伸缩振动频率与实验一致.     

Orientation of a benzene molecule inside a carbon nanotube

Benzene molecules confined in carbon nanotubes of varying radii are employed as semiconductors in electronic nanodevices, and their orientation determines the electrical properties of the system. In this paper, we investigate the interaction energy of all the possible configurations of a benzene molecule inside various carbon nanotubes and then we determine the equilibrium configuration. We adopt the continuous approach together with the semi-empirical Lennard-Jones potential function to model van der Waals interaction between a benzene molecule and a carbon nanotube. This approach results in an analytical expression, which accurately approximates the interaction energy and can be readily used to generate numerical data. We find that horizontal, tilted and perpendicular configurations on the axis of the carbon nanotube are all possible equilibrium configurations of the benzene molecule when the radius of the carbon nanotube is less than 5.580 Å. However, when the radius of the carbon nanotube is larger than 5.580 Å an offset horizontal orientation is the only possible equilibrium configuration of the benzene molecule. In the limiting case, the orientation of a benzene molecule on a graphene sheet can be derived simply by letting the radius of the carbon nanotube tend to infinity.     

Solvation shell dynamics studied by molecular dynamics simulation in relation to the translational and rotational dynamics of supercritical water and benzene

The solvation shell dynamics of supercritical water is analyzed by molecular dynamics simulation with emphasis on its relationship to the translational and rotational dynamics. The relaxation times of the solvation number (tau S), the velocity autocorrelation function (tau D), the angular momentum correlation function (tau J), and the second-order reorientational correlation function (tau 2R) are studied at a supercritical temperature of 400 degrees C over a wide density region of 0.01-1.5 g cm(-3). The relaxation times are decomposed into those conditioned by the solvation number n, and the effect of the short-ranged structure is examined in terms of its probability Pn of occurrence. In the low to medium-density range of 0.01-0.4 g cm(-3), the time scales of water dynamics are in the following sequence: tau D>tau S approximately or > tau J approximately or > tau 2R. This means that the rotation in supercritical water is of the "in-shell" type while the translational diffusion is not. The comparison to supercritical benzene is also performed and the effect of hydrogen bonding is examined. The water diffusion is not of the in-shell type up to the ambient density of 1.0 g cm(-3), which corresponds to the absence of the transition from the collision to the Brownian picture, whereas such transition is present in the case of benzene. The absence of the transition in water comes from the fast reorganization of the hydrogen bonds and the enhanced mobility of the solvation shell in supercritical conditions.     

Molecular simulation study of temperature effect on ionic hydration in carbon nanotubes

Molecular dynamics simulations have been performed to investigate the hydration of Li(+), Na(+), K(+), F(-), and Cl(-) inside the carbon nanotubes at temperatures ranging from 298 to 683 K. The structural characteristics of the coordination shells of ions are studied, including the ion-oxygen radial distribution functions, the coordination numbers, and the orientation distributions of the water molecules. Simulation results show that the first coordination shells of the five ions still exist in the nanoscale confinement. Nevertheless, the first coordination shell structures of cations change more significantly than those of anions because of the preferential orientation of the water molecules induced by the carbon nanotube. The first coordination shells of cations are considerably less ordered in the nanotube than in the bulk solution, whereas the change of the first coordination shell structures of the anions is minor. Furthermore, the confinement induces the anomalous behavior of the coordination shells of the ions with temperature. The first coordination shell of K(+) are found to be more ordered as the temperature increases only in the carbon nanotube with the effective diameter of 1.0 nm, implying the enhancement of the ionic hydration with temperature. This is contrary to that in the bulk solution. The coordination shells of the other four ions do not have such behavior in the carbon nanotube with the effective diameter ranging from 0.73 to 1.00 nm. The easier distortion of the coordination shell of K(+) and the match of the shell size and the nanotube size may play roles in this phenomenon. The exchange of water molecules in the first coordination shells of the ions with the solution and the ion diffusion along the axial direction of the nanotube are also investigated. The mobility of the ions and the stability of the coordination shells are greatly affected by the temperature in the nanotube as in the bulk solutions. These results help to understand the biological and chemical processes at the high temperature.     

Investigation of structures and properties of cyclic peptide nanotubes by experiment and molecular dynamics

In order to investigate the structures and properties of cyclic peptide nanotubes of cyclo[(-D: -Phe-L: -Ala)( n = 3,4,5,6)-], cyclo[(-D: -Phe-L: -Ala)( n = 4)-] was synthesized and self-assembled to nanotubes, and its structure and morphology of the nanotube were characterized by mass spectrometry (MS), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). On the basis of these experimental results, the structures of cyclo[(-D: -Phe-L: -Ala)( n = 3,4,5,6)-] were characterized by molecular dynamics. In addition, the motion behaviors of H(2)O molecules in nanotubes were investigated by molecular dynamics using a COMPASS force field. Experimental results show that cyclo[(-D: -Phe-L: -Ala)( n = 4)-] peptides self-assemble into nanotube bundles. Molecular modeling results indicate that cyclic peptide nanotubes with n = 3, 4, 5 and 6 are very stable; these nanotubes have internal diameters of 5.9 A, 8.1 A, 10.8 A and 13.1 A and outer diameters of 18.2 A, 21.7 A, 23.4 A and 25.9 A respectively. Modeling results demonstrate that H(2)O molecules move in cooperation in single nanotube and they diffuse in one dimension, but they did not diffuse unilaterally due to the antiparallel ring stacking arrangement.     

Self-diffusion of methane in single-walled carbon nanotubes at sub- and supercritical conditions

The diffusivities of methane in single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are investigated at various temperatures and pressures using classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations complemented with grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations. The carbon atoms at the nanotubes are structured according to the (m, m) armchair arrangement and the interactions between each methane molecule and all atoms of the confining surface are explicitly considered. It is found that the parallel self-diffusion coefficient of methane in an infinitely long, defect-free SWNT decreases dramatically as the temperature falls, especially at subcritical temperatures and high loading of gas molecules when the adsorbed gas forms a solidlike structure. With the increase in pressure, the diffusion coefficient first declines rapidly and then exhibits a nonmonotonic behavior due to the layering transitions of the adsorbed gas molecules as seen in the equilibrium density profiles. At a subcritical temperature, the diffusion of methane in a fully loaded SWNT follows a solidlike behavior, and the value of the diffusion coefficient varies drastically with the nanotube diameter. At a supercritical temperature, however, the diffusion coefficient at high pressure reaches a plateau, with the limiting value essentially independent of the nanotube size. For SWNTs with the radius larger than approximately 2 nm, capillary condensation occurs when the temperature is sufficiently low, following the layer-by-layer adsorption of gas molecules on the nanotube surface. For SWNTs with a diameter less than about 2 nm, no condensation is observed because the system becomes essentially one-dimensional.     

Density functional study of the 13C NMR chemical shifts in small-to-medium-diameter infinite single-walled carbon nanotubes

NMR chemical shifts were calculated for semiconducting (n,0) single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) with n ranging from 7 to 17. Infinite isolated SWNTs were calculated using a gauge-including projector-augmented plane-wave (GIPAW) approach with periodic boundary conditions and density functional theory (DFT). In order to minimize intertube interactions in the GIPAW computations, an intertube distance of 8 A was chosen. For the infinite tubes, we found a chemical shift range of over 20 ppm for the systems considered here. The SWNT family with lambda = mod(n, 3) = 0 has much smaller chemical shifts compared to the other two families with lambda = 1 and lambda = 2. For all three families, the chemical shifts decrease roughly inversely proportional to the tube's diameter. The results were compared to calculations of finite capped SWNT fragments using a gauge-including atomic orbital (GIAO) basis. Direct comparison of the two types of calculations could be made if benzene was used as the internal (computational) reference. The NMR chemical shifts of finite SWNTs were found to converge very slowly, if at all, to the infinite limit, indicating that capping has a strong effect (at least for the (9,0) tubes) on the calculated properties. Our results suggest that (13)C NMR has the potential for becoming a useful tool in characterizing SWNT samples.     

Coronene Encapsulation in Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes: Stacked Columns,Peapods, and Nanoribbons

Encapsulation of coronene inside single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) was studied under various conditions. Under high vacuum, two main types of molecular encapsulation were observed by using transmission electron microscopy: coronene dimers and molecular stacking columns perpendicular or tilted (45–60°) with regard to the axis of the SWNTs. A relatively small number of short nanoribbons or polymerized coronene molecular chains were observed. However, experiments performed under an argon atmosphere (0.17 MPa) revealed reactions between the coronene molecules and the formation of hydrogen‐terminated graphene nanoribbons. It was also observed that the morphology of the encapsulated products depend on the diameter of the SWNTs. The experimental results are explained by using density functional theory calculations through the energies of the coronene molecules inside the SWNTs, which depend on the orientation of the molecules and the diameter of the tubes.     

Spectroscopic Characteristics of Differently Produced Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) synthesized with different methods are investigated by using multiple characterization techniques, including Raman scattering, optical absorption, and X‐ray absorption near edge structure, along with X‐ray photoemission by following the total valence bands and C 1s core‐level spectra. Four different SWNT materials (produced by arc discharge, HiPco, laser ablation, and CoMoCat methods) contain nanotubes with diameters ranging from 0.7 to 2.8 nm. The diameter distribution and the composition of metallic and semiconducting tubes of the SWNT materials are strongly affected by the synthesis method. Similar sp² hybridization of carbon in the oxygenated SWNT structure can be found, but different surface functionalities are introduced while the tubes are processed. All the SWNTs demonstrate stronger plasmon resonance excitations and lower electron binding energy than graphite and multiwalled carbon nanotubes. These SWNT materials also exhibit different valence‐band X‐ray photoemission features, which are considerably affected by the nanotube diameter distribution and metallic/semiconducting composition.     

纳米受限下溶质水化结构的分子模拟

利用分子动力学模拟研究了五种不同种类的溶质分子(K+, Mg2+, Cl-, K-和K0)在直径为0.60-1.28 nm的纳米碳管内的水化结构. 模拟结果揭示了单电荷溶质、双电荷溶质和中性溶质在受限条件下具有不同的水化行为. 单价溶质的配位数只有在直径不大于0.73 nm的纳米碳管内才会明显减少. 和带有电荷的溶质不同, 中性溶质的配位数对纳米碳管直径的改变非常敏感, 并且随着管径的减小而迅速减少. 模拟结果还表明带单价正电荷的溶质(K+)第一配位层水分子的取向结构会随着纳米碳管直径的改变发生变化, 而其他溶质配位层取向结构在本文所涉及的纳米碳管内都几乎和体相中一致. 在直径大于1.0 nm的纳米碳管中, K+的配位层取向结构有序度随着管径的减小而单调下降, 但是在直径小于1.0 nm的纳米碳管中, 随着碳管管径的减小而迅速上升. 在两个最窄的纳米碳管内, 其结构有度甚至高于体相. 双电荷溶质的水化结构在本文所研究的碳管直径范围内和体相完全一致, 即使在直径只有0.6 nm的碳管内也无任何改变.     

Constrained iron catalysts for single-walled carbon nanotube growth

The diameter of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) determines the electronic properties of the nanotube. The diameter of carbon nanotubes is dictated by the diameter of the catalyst particle. Here we describe the use of iron nanoparticles synthesized within the Dps protein cage as catalysts for the growth of single-walled carbon nanotubes. The discrete iron particles synthesized within the Dps protein cages when used as catalyst particles gives rise to single-walled carbon nanotubes with a limited diameter distribution.     

Azafullerenes encapsulated within single-walled carbon nanotubes

Methods of insertion of azafullerenes in single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) at different temperatures were investigated, while the effects of the conditions applied on the structure of azafullerene-based peapods, namely, C59N@SWNTs, were explored. Morphological characteristics of C59N@SWNTs were assessed and evaluated by means of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). Pathways and chemical reactions that occur upon encapsulation of C59N within SWNTs were evaluated. Monomeric azafullerenyl radical C59N. as inserted into SWNTs at high temperature, from purified (C59N)2 in the gas phase, can undergo a variety of different transformations forming dimers, oligomers or existing in its monomeric form inside SWNTs due to the stabilization effect by nanotube side walls. However, under milder conditions, that is, at lower temperature, bisazafullerene (C59N)2 can be inserted into SWNTs in its pristine dimeric form.     

Probing the Selectivity of Azomethine Imine Cycloaddition to Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes by Resonance Raman Spectroscopy

Selective covalent surface modification of single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) is of great importance to various carbon nanotube‐based applications as it might offer an alternative method for enriching metallic and semiconducting nanotubes. Herein, we report on the surface modification of SWNTs through 1,3‐dipolar cycloaddition of 3‐phenyl‐phthalazinium‐1‐olate, which is a stable and reactive azomethine imine. For this reaction, microwave heating was found to be more efficient than conventional and solvent‐free heating. The sensitivity of cycloaddition to the molecular structure of SWNTs was probed using resonance Raman spectroscopy with three different laser excitations. Based on the obtained results, azomethine imine addition to the surface of nanotubes is selective for metallic and large‐diameter semiconducting SWNTs. Thermogravimetric analysis coupled with mass spectrometry showed that fragments released at high temperatures corresponded to the phenylphthalazine group, thus confirming the covalent surface functionalization. Modified SWNTs were further characterized by X‐ray photoelectron and UV/Vis‐NIR spectroscopies.     

单壁碳纳米管上毒性苯气体净化的分子模拟

采用巨正则系综蒙特卡罗(GCMC)方法研究了空气中微量苯组分在单臂碳纳米管(SWNTs)上的吸附净化. 模拟表明, 具有较大孔径的(20,20)纳米管比较适合吸附纯苯蒸汽, 而对于移除空气中的毒性苯物质, 苯的吸附选择性分别在(12,12)纳米管及4.0 MPa时和(18,18)纳米管及0.1 MPa时出现最小值和最大值. 为了解释这一异常行为, 我们进一步分析了N₂-O₂-C₆H₆混合物的局部密度分布、吸附分子构型和概率密度分布, 发现(18,18)纳米管内外完全被苯分子占据, 而对于(12,12)纳米管, 由于存在更强的吸附质-吸附剂相互作用, 空气分子更倾向于吸附在管与管之间的间隙. 此外, 吸附分子的空间有序参数表明大多数苯分子采取“平躺”在纳米管表面的定位, 而线性的N₂和O₂分子则多数平行于孔轴方向. 最后研究了温度和苯分子主体相浓度对分离效果的影响. 我们发现较大孔中的选择性随着温度的增加比小孔下降更加明显. 与此对比, 主体相苯浓度对小孔中的选择性起到更加重要的作用.