介观模拟研究环境因素对油/水界面处十六烷基三甲基溴化铵自组装行为的影响

采用耗散颗粒动力学(DPD)模拟方法在介观层次上模拟了表面活性剂十六烷基三甲基溴化铵(CTAB)在油/水界面的自组装行为,考察了表面活性剂浓度、油水比例以及剪切力等环境因素对表面活性剂界面张力、尾-尾间距离及油水界面厚度的影响。结果发现,油水比例增大可显著降低CTAB存在的油水界面张力,提高CTAB的界面活性;有剪切存在时,表面活性剂在界面的聚集行为明显改变,分子在界面处的排列变得混乱,有序性降低,导致尾-尾间距离减小、界面厚度增加,界面效率显著降低。模拟表明,介观模拟方法可以作为实验的一种补充,为实验提供必要的微观分子结构信息。     

十二烷基苯磺酸钠在SiO2表面聚集的分子动力学模拟

采用分子动力学方法研究了阴离子表面活性剂十二烷基苯磺酸钠(SDBS)在无定形SiO2固体表面的吸附. 设置不同的水层厚度, 观察固液界面和气液界面吸附的差异. 模拟发现表面活性剂分子能够在短时间内吸附到SiO2表面, 受碳链和固体表面之间相互作用的影响形成表面活性剂分子层, 并依据吸附量的大小形成不同的聚集结构; 在水层足够厚的情况下, 由于有较多的表面活性剂分子吸附在固体表面,从而形成带有疏水核心的半胶束结构; 计算得到的成对势表明极性头与钠离子或水分子之间的结合或解离与二者之间的能垒有关, 解离能垒远大于结合能垒, 引起更多Na+聚集在极性头周围而只有少数Na+存在于溶液中; 无论气液还是固液界面, 极性头均伸向水相, 与水分子形成不同类型的氢键. 模拟表明, 分子动力学方法可以作为实验的一种补充, 为实验提供必要的微观结构信息.     

十二烷基苯磺酸钠在SiO2表面聚集的分子动力学模拟

采用分子动力学方法研究了阴离子表面活性剂十二烷基苯磺酸钠(SDBS)在无定形SiO2固体表面的吸附.设置不同的水层厚度,观察同液界面和气液界面吸附的差异.模拟发现表面活性剂分子能够在短时间内吸附到SiO2表面,受碳链和固体表面之间相互作用的影响形成表面活性剂分子层,并依据吸附量的大小形成不同的聚集结构;在水层足够厚的情况下,由于有较多的表面活性剂分子吸附在固体表面,从而形成带有疏水核心的半胶束结构;计算得到的成对势表明极性头与钠离子或水分子之间的结合或解离与二者之间的能垒有关,解离能垒远大于结合能垒,引起更多Na+聚集在极性头周围而只有少数Na+存在于溶液中;无论气液还是固液界面,极性头均伸向水相,与水分子形成不同类型的氢键.模拟表明,分子动力学方法可以作为实验的一种补充,为实验提供必要的微观结构信息.     

多元体系油水界面上常见表面活性剂行为的分子动力学模拟

采用分子动力学模拟研究了以十二烷基苯磺酸钠(SDBS)为代表的阴离子型表面活性剂,以十二烷基三甲基溴化铵(DTAB)为代表的阳离子型表面活性剂,以壬基酚聚氧乙烯醚(NPE)为代表的非离子型表面活性剂,以十二烷基二甲基甜菜碱(Betaine)为代表的两性表面活性剂及空白实验.模拟了表面活性剂在油水界面上的行为,考察了表面活性剂分子与石油分子之间的径向分布函数(RDF)、石油分子在竖直方向的均方位移(MSD)、油水界面张力(IFT)、石油层与岩石层之间的相互作用能、石油层的相对浓度在竖直方向的分布及石油分子质心位置随模拟时间的变化关系等,讨论了不同表面活性剂的洗油性能.结果表明:(1)SDBS,NPE和Betaine分子初始状态下呈近似的规律排列,非极性端部分插入油相中,极性端延伸进入水相中;随后表面活性剂的极性端表现出聚集趋势,逐渐形成一个外部亲油内部亲水的一个胶束状粒子,粒子随模拟的进行逐渐融入到油层当中;DTAB从开始的近似规则排列逐渐变为无规排列,但是始终保持亲油端插入到油相中,亲水端位于油水界面上.(2)表面活性剂分子与石油分子之间的相互作用强弱顺序为Betaine≈DTABSDBSNPE.(3)由质心高度和动力过程中的图像截图分析,表面活性剂洗油效果的顺序为BetaineSDBSNPEDTABNone.模拟结果与实际的驱油结果一致,从分子层面上解释了不同表面活性剂洗油的规律.     

淀粉微球形成过程的介观模拟及实验

以环己烷为油相、淀粉乳液为水相、Span60和Tween60为乳化剂,对淀粉微球的形成过程进行了耗散粒子动力学(DPD)模拟及实验研究.模拟结果表明,淀粉微球的形成过程存在四个阶段,即淀粉与乳化剂分子无规则分散阶段、小聚集体形成阶段、球状聚集体形成阶段和稳定平衡阶段,并且发现油水比是影响聚集体是否能形成球状的关键因素.油水比小于7的条件下,油水两相分离较难,水相呈现片状、十字型状、柱状及椭球状等形状;当油水比增加到8,水相能形成微球且微球粒径随油水比增加而减小.同时实验结果表明,油水比为8时,微球粘连,几乎看不清球状形貌,油水比为10～20时,微球的粒径随油水比的增大而减小.实验结果很好地吻合了模拟结果.     

金纳米颗粒周围水的结构和动力学性质的分子动力学模拟

采用经典的分子动力学模拟方法系统地研究了在常温条件下金纳米颗粒周围水的结构与动力学性质. 结果表明, 水分子在纳米颗粒附近形成了明显的多层结构. 同时随着径向距离的减小, 水分子的空间取向也从无序排列趋向于有序排列. 通过分析界面处不同水层中的均方位移及停留时间分布, 发现紧贴颗粒表面的第一和第二水层中的水分子表现出很低的扩散系数, 而第三和第四水层中的水分子则能够轻易地离开界面区域而进入主体相区域. 此外, 在界面处的每个水分子的氢键平均数要高于在主体相的平均值.     

十四烷基三甲基氯化铵/十二烷基苯磺酸钠混合表面活性剂双水相体系的萃取性能

研究了十四烷基三甲基氯化铵(TTAC)与十二烷基苯磺酸钠(SDBS)混合表面活性剂水溶液双水相体系的分相情况、萃取性能及两相的微观结构.结果表明,TTAC/SDBS混合表面活性剂水溶液在30℃下能够形成稳定的双水相体系;该双水相体系对亚甲基蓝、靛红都具有一定的萃取分离作用.其上、下两相的微观结构明显不同,这是其能够形成稳定双水相体系且具有萃取作用的重要原因.     

表面活性剂亲水-亲油能力对动态界面张力的影响

当两个不互溶的液相接触时 ,如果其中一相或两相含有表面活性物质 ,就可能产生动态界面张力 .两相间的界面张力随时间连续变化 ,直到平衡为止 .在到达平衡的过程中 ,经常通过一个最低值 .酸 性油 /碱水体系也会出现类似现象 .England和 Berg[1]把动态界面张力解释为表面活性物质在界面上累积的结果 ,并观察到 1,5-戊二醇由白油向水 中传质时存在明显的吸附-脱附位垒 .Rubin和 Radke[2]首次给出了解释酸性原油与碱水溶液接触时产生动态界面张力的物理模型 ,他们提出在油水界面上存在一个表面活性物质的脱附位垒 ,原油中的酸性物质与氢氧化…     

链段刚性对非溶剂致相分离成膜过程影响的耗散粒子动力学模拟

通过分子动力学(MD)模拟映射方法构建了符合聚醚砜(PES)刚性结构的耗散粒子动力学(DPD)简谐力场, 并研究了PES链段刚性对PES/N-甲基-2-吡咯烷酮(NMP)/水体系非溶剂致相分离(NIPS)过程的影响. 结果表明, 由于非溶剂和溶剂在两相界面上发生的质量交换, 导致在相界面处PES链段发生堆积, 形成了薄而致密的聚合物表层, 在PES溶液内部, 由于非溶剂的侵入导致体系发生了旋节相分离, 从而在整体上得到了明显的非对称结构; 同时, PES链段刚性的提升能够明显加快体系的相分离速度, 导致相界面处的PES薄层形成得更加快速, 薄层更加致密、 孔径更小, 而对内部的疏松结构影响较小; 此外, 结合不同力场下聚合物浓度对相分离过程的影响可以发现, 不同PES浓度下, 链段刚性的提升对相分离过程的特征和演变趋势没有造成根本性的影响, 与经典的弹簧力场的模拟结果在整体趋势上有相似性. 研究结果表明, 简谐力场能提升PES链段的刚性, 从而能更真实地模拟实际体系的非溶剂相分离法成膜过程.     

交联SU-8光刻胶与Ni基底结合性的分子动力学模拟

应用分子动力学模拟软件Materials Studio构建SU-8光刻胶与Ni基底的界面结构,研究后烘温度对界面结合性的影响.结合工艺中所采用的后烘温度,模拟计算了338～368K时Ni基底上SU-8胶的交联反应,在经过反复的能量最小化和分子动力学模拟后,对最终得到的平衡结构进行了界面结合能的计算.计算结果表明界面结合能随着后烘温度的升高而增大,在368K时结合能达到最大值,说明此时界面结合最好.对分子体系进行了能量分析,结果表明界面分子间的范德华力作用能是影响界面结合的主要因素.对体系界面原子间进行了径向分布函数分析,发现范德华力作用范围内(0.31～0.60nm)出现两组Ni—O的强峰,也证实了上述结论。     

Common Features of “Rag” Layers in Water-in-Crude Oil Emulsions with Different Stability. Possible Presence of Spontaneous Emulsification

Aging W/O emulsions with various stabilities brake into “rags” – fragments with uneven shapes. Individual “rags” combine into a separate “rag” layer below supernatant oil. In the “rag” material, the continuous oil phase is enriched in heavy constituents, while the disperse phase contains two populations of water drops. Larger drops are formed by mechanical dispersion during emulsification, as indicated by their log-normal number size distributions. Smaller droplets possess exponential number size distributions, indicating a possibility of their spontaneous nucleation. The latter conclusion is supported by microscopic observation of spontaneous appearance of small droplets at a stationary oil–water interface.     

Structure and Orientation of Tetracarboxylic Acids at Oil–Water Interfaces

Fouling caused by tetracarboxylic acids in transport and separation process chains involving petroemulsions occurs when the interfacial concentration of tetraacids becomes large enough for calcium ions in the water phase to “crosslink” the adsorbed tetraacid molecules and form a precipitate. At present, the structure and orientation of tetraacid molecules at oil–water interfaces, which influences the precipitation behavior, has not been studied in detail. In this work, molecular dynamics simulations of indigenous and synthetic tetracarboxylic acid compounds are presented to describe the structure and spatial orientation of tetraacid molecules at oil–water interfaces. Molecular distributions relative to the oil–water dividing surface along with the length and orientation angle distributions of the acidic arm groups are presented. The probability distributions determined here that describe the tetraacids at an oil–water interface can be employed to reconstruct the density of carboxylic acid groups at the oil–water interface. The interfacial carboxylic acid density can be employed to determine the fraction of adsorbed tetraacid molecules that are “crosslinked” with calcium ions based on the distances between carboxylic acid groups. The simulations presented also form a basis to calculate interfacial molecular areas and virial coefficients to employ in molecular mixed monolayer adsorption isotherms.     

The array and interfacial activity of sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate and sodium oleate at the oil/water interface

There is a close correlation between the interfacial activity and the adsorption of the surfactant at the interface, but the detailed molecular standard information was scarce. The interfacial activity of two traditional anionic surfactants sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) and sodium oleate (OAS) were studied by experimental and computer simulation methods. With the spinning drop method and the suspension drop method, the interfacial tension of oil/aqueous surfactant systems was measured, and the influence of surfactant concentration and salinity on the interfacial tension was investigated. The dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) method was used to simulate the adsorption of SDBS and OAS at the oil/water interface. It was shown that it is beneficial to decrease interfacial tension if the hydrophobic chains of the surfactant and the oil have similar structure. The accession of inorganic salts causes surfactant molecules to form more compact and ordered arrangements and helps to decrease the interfacial tension. There is an osculation relation between interfacial density and interfacial activity. The interfacial density calculated by molecular simulation is an effective parameter to exhibit the interfacial activity.     

A Visible Spectroscopic Study of Microstructure of O/W Microemulsions of Anionic Surfactants: Effect of Cosurfactant

The microstructure of o/w microemulsions, stabilized by sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) with different cosurfactants, has been studied by partitioning of a dye, phenol red, between the oil‐water interface and bulk water. The cosurfactants used are propan‐1‐ol, propan‐2‐ol, butan‐1‐ol, butan‐2‐ol, pentane‐1‐ol, pentane‐2‐ol, and pentan‐3‐ol. The effects of changing the oil volume fraction and surfactant‐cosurfactant w/w ratio on the oil‐water interface and droplet size have also been discussed. Larger droplet size was predicted for SDS than SDBS. The predicted droplet radius increased with increase in the oil fraction, decrease in the surfactant concentration, increase in the C‐number of the linear cosurfactant, and decrease in branching of the cosurfactant. Surfactant‐cosurfactant ratio and pH did not affect the droplet size significantly. The minimum concentrations of surfactants with which microemulsions were formed were found to be higher for larger oil fraction, smaller C‐number of the alcohol, more branching of the alcohol, and higher pH.     

烷基苯磺酸盐在油水界面行为的介观模拟

采用耗散颗粒动力学(DPD)方法在介观层次上模拟了表面活性剂烷基苯磺酸盐在油/水界面的排布行为, 考察了分子结构、浓度、盐度、油相等因素对表面活性剂界面密度和界面效率的影响, 并探讨了利用表面活性剂复配协同效应提高界面活性的理论机制. 分子模拟给出的分子水平的微观信息为强化采油技术中配方筛选和表面活性剂的有效应用提供指导.     

Molecular behavior and synergistic effects between sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate and Triton X-100 at oil/water interface

Significant synergistic effects between sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS) and nonionic nonylphenol polyethylene oxyether, Triton X-100 (TX-100), at the oil/water interface have been investigated by experimental methods and computer simulation. The influences of surfactant concentration, salinity, and the ratio of the two surfactants on the interfacial tension were investigated by conventional interfacial tension methods. A dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) method was used to simulate the adsorption properties of SDBS and TX-100 at the oil/water interface. The experiment and simulation results indicate that ultralow (lower than 10(-3) mN m(-1)) interfacial tension can be obtained at high salinity and very low surfactant concentration. Different distributions of surfactants in the interface and the bulk solution corresponding to the change of salinity have been demonstrated by simulation. Also by computer simulation, we have observed that either SDBS or TX-100 is not distributed uniformly over the interface. Rather, the interfacial layer contains large cavities between SDBS clusters filled with TX-100 clusters. This inhomogeneous distribution helps to enhancing our understanding of the synergistic interaction of the different surfactants. The simulation conclusions are consistent with the experimental results.     

Interfacial Modification and Structural Transitions Induced by Guest Molecules Solubilized in U‐Type Nonionic Microemulsions

Abstract

Alcohols and polyols are essential components (in addition to the surfactant, water, and oil) in the formation of U‐type self‐assembled nano‐structures, (sometimes called L‐phases or U‐type microemulsions). These microemulsions are characterized by large isotropic regions ranging from the oil side of the phase diagram up to the aqueous corner. The isotropic oily solutions of reverse micelles (“the concentrates”) can be diluted along some dilution lines with aqueous phase to the “direct micelles” corner via a bicontinuous mesophases (i.e., two structural transitions). This dilution takes place with no phase separations or occurrence of liquid crystalline phases. The structural transitions were determined by viscosity, conductivity, and pulsed gradient spin echo NMR (PGSE NMR), and are not visible to the eye. Two guest nutraceutical molecules (lutein and phytosterols) were solubilized, at their maximum solubilization capacity, in the reversed micellar solutions (L₂ phase) and were further diluted with the aqueous phase to the aqueous micellar corner (L₁ phase). Structural transitions (for the two types of molecule) from water‐in‐oil to bicontinuous microstructures were induced by the guest molecules. The transitions occurred at an earlier stage of dilution, at a lower water content (20 wt.% aqueous phase), than in the empty (blank) microemulsions (transitions at 30 wt.% aqueous phase). The transitions from the bicontinuous microstructure to the oil‐in‐water microemulsions were retarded by the solubilizates and occurred at later dilution stage at higher aqueous phase contents (50 wt.% aqueous region for empty microemulsion and >60 wt.% for solubilized microemulsion). As a result, the bicontinuous isotropic region, in the presence of the guest molecules, becomes much broader. It seems that the main reason for such “guest‐induced structural transitions” is related to a significant flattening and enhanced rigidity of the interface. The guest molecules of the high molecular volume are occupying high volume fraction of the interface (when the solubilization is maximal).     

On the Stability of Liquid Nanodroplets in Polymerizable Miniemulsions

Liquid nanodroplets within a size range of 50 to 500 nm can easily be prepared by shearing a system containing oil, water and a surfactant. The growth of the nanodroplets can effectively be suppressed by using a strong hydrophobe as an additivie to the oil and an effective surfactant. The hydrophobe acts as an osmotic agent which stabilizes the system against Ostwald ripening. The growth of the droplets by collision is controlled by the density of the surfactant layer. Freshly prepared miniemulsions are “critically stabilized” and show a slow, but pronounced growth, whereas a miniemulsion in “equilibrium” exhibits constant droplet size on longer time scales. Polymerization of the oil droplets of such miniemulsions turns out to be very promising and extends the possibilities of classical emulsion polymerization. Since each droplet can be considered a small reactor in which polymerization reactions take place, the process allows one to create new particle structures, e.g. polyaddition reactions can take advantage of unusual monomers, the incorporation of materials which are not soluble in the continuous phase, and the formation of nanocapsules.