Local density inhomogeneities and dynamics in supercritical water: A molecular dynamics simulation approach

Molecular dynamics atomistic simulations in the canonical ensemble (NVT-MD) have been used to investigate the "Local Density Inhomogeneities and their Dynamics" in pure supercritical water. The simulations were carried out along a near-critical isotherm (Tr = T/Tc = 1.03) and for a wide range of densities below and above the critical one (0.2 rho(c) - 2.0 rho(c)). The results obtained reveal the existence of significant local density augmentation effects, which are found to be sufficiently larger in comparison to those reported for nonassociated fluids. The time evolution of the local density distribution around each molecule was studied in terms of the appropriate time correlation functions C(Delta)rhol(t). It is found that the shape of these functions changes significantly by increasing the density of the fluid. Finally, the local density reorganization times for the first and second coordination shell derived from these correlations exhibit a decreasing behavior by increasing the density of the system, signifying the density effect upon the dynamics of the local environment around each molecule.     

The use of nitrous oxide for supercritical fluid extraction of pharmaceutical compounds from animal feed

Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) coupled “off-line” with HPLC analysis has been applied to pharmaceutical analysis: two different matrixes (rodent and dog feed) were spiked with compounds under investigation in pharmacological studies in order to study the supercritical extraction of such matrixes prior to further analysis and quantification of the compounds of interest. The fluid flow-rate in the SFE system was governed by the geometric characteristics (internal diameter and length) of the linear fused silica capillaries. The changes in fluid flow-rate, between experiments, for each new restrictor, required the introduction of the term Total Gaseous Fluid Volume (TGFV), which enabled a series of extraction results to be compared. The comparative behavior of nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide as supercritical extraction fluids was investigated. Results obtained using pure supercritical fluids with high solvating power (density 0.79 g ml^?1) and fluids modified with a polar liquid solvent (methanol and acetonitrile) are discussed.     

Direct measurements of pore fluid density by vibrating tube densimetry

The densities of pore-confined fluids were measured for the first time by means of vibrating tube densimetry (VTD). A custom-built high-pressure, high-temperature vibrating tube densimeter was used to measure the densities of propane at subcritical and supercritical temperatures (between 35 and 97 °C) and carbon dioxide at supercritical temperatures (between 32 and 50 °C) saturating hydrophobic silica aerogel (0.2 g/cm(3), 90% porosity) synthesized inside Hastelloy U-tubes. Additionally, supercritical isotherms of excess adsorption for CO(2) and the same porous solid were measured gravimetrically using a precise magnetically coupled microbalance. Pore fluid densities and total adsorption isotherms increased monotonically with increasing density of the bulk fluid, in contrast to excess adsorption isotherms, which reached a maximum and then decreased toward zero or negative values above the critical density of the bulk fluid. The isotherms of confined fluid density and excess adsorption obtained by VTD contain additional information. For instance, the maxima of excess adsorption occur below the critical density of the bulk fluid at the beginning of the plateau region in the total adsorption, marking the end of the transition of pore fluid to a denser, liquidlike pore phase. Compression of the confined fluid significantly beyond the density of the bulk fluid at the same temperature was observed even at subcritical temperatures. The effect of pore confinement on the liquid-vapor critical temperature of propane was less than ~1.7 K. The results for propane and carbon dioxide showed similarity in the sense of the principle of corresponding states. Good quantitative agreement was obtained between excess adsorption isotherms determined from VTD total adsorption results and those measured gravimetrically at the same temperature, confirming the validity of the vibrating tube measurements. Thus, it is demonstrated that vibrating tube densimetry is a novel experimental approach capable of providing directly the average density of pore-confined fluids, and hence complementary to the conventional gravimetric or volumetric/piezometric adsorption techniques, which yield the excess adsorption (the Gibbsian surface excess).     

Model for dynamics of inhomogeneous and bulk fluids

An accurate model for the density of states (DOS) for strongly inhomogeneous and bulk fluids has been proposed based on gamma distributions. The contribution to the density of states from the collective dynamics is modeled as an incomplete gamma distribution and the high frequency region is obtained from the solution of the memory equation using a sech memory kernel. Using only the frequency moments as input, the model parameters for the collective dynamics are obtained by matching moments of the resulting distribution. The model results in an analytical expression for the self-diffusivity of the fluid. We present results for soft sphere fluids confined in slit-shaped pores as well as bulk soft sphere liquids. Comparisons of the DOS, velocity autocorrelation functions, and memory kernels with molecular dynamics simulations reveal that the model predicts features in the DOS over the entire frequency range and is able to capture changes in the DOS as a function of fluid density and temperature. As a result the predicted VACFs, memory kernels, and self-diffusivities are accurately predicted over a wide range of conditions. Since the frequency moments for bulk liquids can be obtained from pair correlation functions, our method provides a direct route from fluid structure to dynamics. For fluids confined in slit-shaped pores, where the frequency moments are obtained from molecular dynamics simulations, the predicted self-diffusivities capture the resulting oscillations due to variations in the solvation pressure, and in the case of smooth walled pores, the predictions are superior to those obtained using kinetic theory.     

Time evolution of density fluctuation in the supercritical region. 2. Comparison of hydrogen- and non-hydrogen-bonded fluids

The time evolution of the density fluctuation of molecules is investigated by dynamic light scattering in six neat fluids in supercritical states. This study is the first to compare the dynamics of density inhomogeneity between hydrogen- and non-hydrogen-bonded fluids. Supercritical methanol and ethanol are used as hydrogen-bonded fluids, whereas four non-hydrogen-bonded fluids were used: CHF(3), C(2)H(4), CO(2), and Xe. We measure the time correlation function of the density fluctuation of each fluid at the same reduced temperatures and densities and investigate the relationship between the dynamic and static density inhomogeneities of those supercritical fluids. In all cases, the profile of the time correlation function of the density fluctuation is characterized by a single-exponential function, whose decay is responsible for the dynamics characterized by hydrodynamic conditions. We obtain correlation times from the time correlation function and discuss dynamic and static inhomogeneity using the Kawasaki theory and the Landau-Placzek theory. While the correlation times in the six fluids show noncoincidence, those values agree well with each other except for the supercritical alcohols when scaled to a dimensionless parameter. Although the principle of corresponding state is observed in the non-hydrogen-bonded fluids, both the supercritical methanol and ethanol deviate from that principle. This deviation is attributed to the presence of hydrogen bonding among alcohol molecules at high temperature and low density. The average cluster size of each fluid is estimated under the same thermodynamic conditions, and it is shown that the clusters of supercritical alcohols are on average 1.5-1.7 times larger than those of the four non-hydrogen-bonded fluids. Moreover, the thermal diffusivity of each neat fluid is obtained over wide ranges of density and temperature.     

Determination of Microcystins in Cyanobacteria by Supercritical Fluid Extraction and Liquid Chromatography‐Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

A method for the detection of microcystins (microcystin LR, RR, and YR) in cyanobacteria by supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) and liquid chromatography‐mass spectrometry (LC/MS) has been developed. Supercritical fluids for the analytical extraction of nonvolatile, higher molecular weight compound, and microcystins from cyanobacteria were investigated. The microcystins included in this study are sparsely soluble in neat supercritical fluid CO₂. However, the microcystins was successfully extracted with a ternary mixture (90% CO₂, 9.5% methanol, 0.5% water) at 40°C and 250 atm. The polar carbon dioxide‐aqueous methanol fluid system gave high extraction efficiency for the extraction of the polar microcystins from cyanobacteria. The microcystins were determined by liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS).     

Temperature dependence of local density augmentation around exciplex in supercritical carbon dioxide

To clarify the temperature dependence of local density augmentation around short-lived species, the pressure dependence of the formation and decay processes of exciplex between two neutral species, acetophenone (AP) and N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB), in supercritical carbon dioxide was investigated by a transient absorption technique at 40, 55, and 70 °C. In the high-density (>0.6 g cm⁻³) region, the decay rate constant could be described by the Kirkwood equation. However, in the low-density (0.35–0.6 g cm⁻³) region, the exciplex was more stable than that predicted by Kirkwood analysis, which means that strong influence of local density augmentation around the exciplex occurred. The local density augmentation can be described in terms of an excess density which is defined as a difference between local and bulk density. The excess density was derived from the difference between experimental results and Kirkwood analysis and exhibited a maximum at near-critical density. The excess density decreased with increasing temperature and became negligible at high temperatures and high bulk densities.     

Temperature dependence of local density augmentation for acetophenone N,N,N',N'-tetramethylbenzidine exciplex in supercritical water

Local density augmentation around exciplex between acetophenone and N,N,N',N'-tetramethylbenzidine in supercritical water was measured by observing the peak shift of transient absorption spectrum at temperatures from 380 to 410 degrees C and at pressures from 6 to 37 MPa. Large local density augmentation was observed at lower solvent densities. Local density augmentation was evaluated by the excess density, which was defined as the difference between local density and bulk density, and the density enhancement factor, which was defined by the ratio of the local density to the bulk density. The number of solvating molecules was estimated with a Langmuir adsorption model. The excess density was found to exhibit a maximum at approximately 0.15 g cm(-3), which decreased with increasing temperature. The density enhancement factor was found to decrease with increasing temperature; however, its value was much greater than unity at 410 degrees C, which provides evidence that exciplex-water interactions still exist at these conditions. The temperature dependence of local density augmentation around the exciplex in supercritical water was comparable with that in supercritical carbon dioxide, which suggests that the ratios of the solute-solvent and solvent-solvent interactions are comparable between these two systems.     

Glycolipid class profiling by packed-column subcritical fluid chromatography

The potential of packed-column subcritical fluid chromatography (SubFC) for the separation of lipid classes has been assessed in this study. Three polar stationary phases were checked: silica, diol, and poly(vinyl alcohol). Carbon dioxide (CO2) with methanol as modifier was used as mobile phase and detection performed by evaporative light scattering detection. The influence of methanol content, temperature, and pressure on the chromatographic behavior of sphingolipids and glycolipids were investigated. A complete separation of lipid classes from a crude wheat lipid extract was achieved using a modifier gradient from 10 to 40% methanol in carbon dioxide. Solute selectivity was improved using coupled silica and diol columns in series. Because the variation of eluotropic strength depending on the fluid density changes, a normalized separation factor product (NSP) was used to select the nature, the number and the order of the columns to reach the optimum glycolipid separation.     

Attractive and repulsive interactions among methanol molecules in supercritical state investigated by Raman spectroscopy and perturbed hard-sphere theory

The short-range structure of supercritical methanol (CH(3)OH) is investigated by measuring the spontaneous Raman spectra of the C-O stretching mode. The spectra are obtained at a reduced temperature, T(r)=T/T(c)=1.02 (522.9 K), which permits the neat fluid to be studied isothermally as a function of density. As the density increases, the spectral peaks shift toward the lower energy side and the spectra broaden. In the supercritical region, the amount of shifting shows nonlinear density dependence and the width becomes anomalously large. We use the perturbed hard-sphere model to analyze these density dependencies along the vibrational coordinate. The amount of shifting is decomposed into attractive and repulsive components, and the changes in attractive and repulsive energies are evaluated as functions of density and packing fraction, both of which are continuously varied by a factor of 120. Here we show that the shift amount consists principally of the attractive component at all densities, since the attractive energy is about eight times the repulsive energy. The density dependence of the widths is analyzed by calculating homogeneous and inhomogeneous widths as a function of density. The results show that, although vibrational dephasing and density inhomogeneity contribute similarly to the width at low and middle densities, at high density the main contributor turns out to be the vibrational dephasing. We estimate the local density enhancements of supercritical CH(3)OH as function of bulk density by two methods. The results of these analyses show common features, and both the estimated local density enhancements of CH(3)OH are considerably larger than the local density enhancements of simple fluids, i.e., those having nonhydrogen bonding. It is revealed that the local density of supercritical CH(3)OH is 40%-60% greater than the local densities of the simple fluids. We also estimate the local density fluctuation using the obtained values of attractive shift, inhomogeneous width, and local density. The density fluctuation in the vicinity of a vibrating molecule is compared to the fluctuation of bulk density, which is obtained from the thermodynamic calculation.     

Dispersion corrected interaction of polar and nonpolar fluids confined within carbon nanotubes: Density functional theoretical analysis using Grimme's D3 scheme

The structural and flow characteristics of fluids within carbon nanotube (CNT) is dictated by the interaction of fluid molecules within the nanocavity of CNT. Therefore, in the present study, dispersion corrected density functional theory has been used to investigate the structure and interaction of polar and nonpolar molecules within CNT. The present study shows that there is profound effect on the interaction due to dispersion. The interaction energy of the confined water was found to be reduced with increasing distance of the water molecule from the wall of the CNT. The water is preferentially adsorbed over methane due to stronger interaction with CNT over methane. Further, water is preferentially adsorbed over methanol molecule when interaction is calculated without dispersion but after inclusion of dispersion interaction, the calculated results show that the methanol–CNT interaction is stronger than that of water molecule and hence preferentially adsorbed within the CNT as revealed from MD simulation. The present calculation reveals that that the effect of CNT confinement on the IR spectra of the single file water is quite considerable compared to the IR spectra of tetrahedral bulk water cluster. Therefore, the present results might be useful for the separation of polar molecule from nonpolar molecule during fabrication of CNT‐based filter and purification system.     

Structural features of binary mixtures of supercritical CO2 with polar entrainers by molecular dynamics simulation

Computer simulations of supercritical carbon dioxide and its mixtures with polar cosolvents: water, methanol, and ethanol (concentration, 0.125 mole fractions) at T = 318 K and ρ = 0.7 g/cm³ are performed. Atom-atom radial distribution functions are calculated by classical molecular dynamics, while the probability distributions of relative orientation of CO₂ molecules in the first and second coordination spheres describing the geometry of the nearest environment of CO₂ molecules and the trajectories of cosolvent molecules are found using Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics. Based on the latter, the conclusions regarding structure and interactions of polar entrainers in their mixtures with supercritical CO₂ are made. It is shown that the microstructure of carbon dioxide varies only slightly upon the introduction of cosolvents.     

New device for controlling the amount of methanol in carbon dioxide mobile phase for supercritical fluid chromatography

A new device to accurately deliver a small amount of methanol into supercritical carbon dioxide fluid is described. Carbon dioxide, the most widely used mobile phase in supercritical fluid chromatography, is a relatively non-polar fluid, and hence the addition of a small amount of methanol could change the solvent strength of the mobile phase. In this work, supercritical CO₂ and methanol are delivered from the pump to a 100-μl mixing chamber in which a small magnetic bar is rotating. After passing through the mixing chamber, supercritical CO₂ is changed to a new mobile phase with different polarity. The modified mobile phase was successfully used for the separations of polar compounds and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).     

Extraction of paeonol from Jisheng Shenqi Wan using supercritical fluid extraction

Supercritical carbon dioxide with or without methanol and 95% ethanol modifiers was used to extract paeonol from the pills of Jisheng Shenqi Wan and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to analyze the extract. The effect of temperature and pressure on the yield of paeonol was tested. The results show that the recovery of paeonol was improved by adding a polar modifier, such as methanol and 95% ethanol in supercritical fluid. The yield obtained after 120 min extraction with 95% ethanol modified-supercritical carbon dioxide was the highest (1.51, w/w at 60 degrees C and 400 bar), while that obtained with supercritical carbon dioxide only at 40 degrees C was the lowest from 0.67 to 0.83 over a range of 200-600 bar.     

Numerical simulation of the solvate structures of acetylsalicylic acid in supercritical carbon dioxide containing polar co-solvents

Hydrogen-bonded complexes of acetylsalicylic acid with polar co-solvents in supercritical carbon dioxide, modified by methanol, ethanol, and acetone of 0.03 mole fraction concentration, are studied by numerical methods of classical molecular dynamics simulation and quantum chemical calculations. The structure, energy of formation, and lifetime of hydrogen-bonded complexes are determined, along with their temperature dependences (from 318 to 388 K at constant density of 0.7 g cm^?3). It is shown that the hydrogen bonds between acetylsalicylic acid and methanol are most stable at 318 K and are characterized by the highest value of absolute energy. At higher supercritical temperatures, however, the longest lifetime is observed for acetylsalicylic acid–ethanol complexes. These results correlate with the known literature experimental data showing that the maximum solubility of acetylsalicylic acid at density values close to those considered in this work and at temperatures of 318 and 328 K is achieved when using methanol and ethanol as co-solvents, respectively.     

Relaxation and short time dynamics of bulk liquids and fluids confined in spherical cavities and slit pores

The density of states for bulk and confined fluids have been modeled using a recently proposed gamma distribution (Krishnan, S. H.; Ayappa, K. G. J. Chem. Phys. 2004, 121, 3197). The gamma distribution results in a closed form analytical expression for the velocity autocorrelation function and the relaxation time of the fluid. The two parameters of the gamma distribution are related analytically to the second and fourth frequency moments of the fluid using short time expansions. The predictions by the proposed gamma model are compared with the velocity autocorrelation functions obtained using the theory of instantaneous normal modes (INMs) and from molecular dynamics simulations. The model is applied to a bulk soft sphere liquid and fluids confined in a spherical cavity and slit-shaped pores. The gamma model is able to capture the resulting changes in relaxation time due to changes in density and temperature extremely well for both the bulk liquid and confined inhomogeneous fluid situations. In all cases, the predictions by the gamma model are superior to those obtained from the INM theory. In the case of the fluid confined in a slit pore, the loadings were obtained from a grand canonical Monte Carlo simulation where the pore is equilibrated with a bulk fluid. This is similar to a confinement situation in a surface force apparatus. The predicted relaxation times vs pore widths from the gamma model are seen to accurately capture the oscillations due to formation and disruption of layers within the slit pore.     

New Device for Adding Polar Modifiers to Carbon Dioxide Mobile Phase for Supercritical Fluid Chromatography

Abstract

Adding additional components to supercritical carbon dioxide in supercritical fluid chromatography can extend or significantly alter the fluid solvating properties. Polar samples which are difficult to be analyzed with pure supercritical CO₂ because of their high polarity can be separated by adding polar modifiers to supercritical CO₂. In this paper, a new mixing device using a teflon high capacity filter for adding polar modifiers to carbon dioxide mobile phase is introduced. This new mixing device could keep the amount of modifier in the mobile phase constant for a much longer time than a saturator column. The amount of water or methanol dissolved in supercritical CO₂ was measured by amperometric microsensor which is made of thin film of perfluorosulfonate ionomer(PFSI).     

Picosecond observations of electron solvation in dilute polar fluids

Electron solvation has been studied in dilute polar fluids in order to quantify the role of the fluid in the proposed mechanisms of electron trapping and solvation. In a series of dilute alcohol-alkane systems, the picosecond evolution of the absorption spectrum is shown to be a sensitive function of the local liquid structure and dynamics. A solvation mechanism is outlined which correlates the absorption and mobility data from neat and dilute polar fluids.     

A diffusion model for the fluids confined in micropores

The self-diffusion coefficients were calculated by molecular dynamics simulations and the effects of pore width, temperature, and fluid density on diffusion behavior of simple fluid argon and polar fluid water confined in micropores were analyzed and studied. A mathematical model describing diffusion behavior of fluids confined in micropores was proposed from the theories of molecular dynamics and molecular kinematics, and validated on the basis of the simulation results at various conditions. The model indicates that the diffusion coefficient is proportional to the square root of the pore width and to the temperature divided by the density squared. It is applicable to either liquid or gas states and only two parameters are required.