Wetting and absorption of water drops on Nafion films

Water drops on Nafion films caused the surface to switch from being hydrophobic to being hydrophilic. Contact angle hysteresis of >70 degrees between advancing and receding values were obtained by the Wilhelmy plate technique. Sessile drop measurements were consistent with the advancing contact angle; the sessile drop contact angle was 108 degrees . Water drop adhesion, as measured by the detachment angle on an inclined plane, showed much stronger water adhesion on Nafion than Teflon. Sessile water and methanol drops caused dry Nafion films to deflect. The flexure went through a maximum with time. Flexure increased with contact area of the drop, but was insensitive to the film thickness. Methanol drops spread more on Nafion and caused larger film flexure than water. The results suggest that the Nafion surface was initially hydrophobic but water and methanol drops caused hydrophilic sulfonic acid domains to be drawn to the Nafion surface. Local swelling of the film beneath the water drop caused the film to buckle. The maximum flexure is suggested to result from motion of a water swelling front through the Nafion film.     

Wetting transitions of asymmetric binary polymer mixtures

We examine the effect on surface-wetting phase transitions in polymer mixtures when the degrees of polymerization of the two components are different. It has been demonstrated by Schmidt and Binder (J. Phys. (Paris) 46 , 1631 (1985)) that in a symmetric polymer mixture a second-order wetting transition occurs if the wall-polymer interaction f(ϕ₀) has a negative curvature f″(ϕ₀), where ϕ₀ is the surface volume fraction of the polymer component preferred by the wall. We found that in an asymmetric mixture this is not necessarily the case.     

Crystallization of a binary Lennard-Jones mixture

Transition interface path sampling combined with straightforward molecular dynamics simulation was applied to study the mechanism and kinetics of the crystallization of an undercooled 3:1 binary Lennard-Jones mixture with diameter ratio 0.85 and equal interaction strengths. We find that this mixture freezes via the formation of crystalline clusters consisting of a fcc-rich core and a bcc-rich surface layer, with an excess of large particles and particle species distributed randomly. A detailed comparison reveals that the transition mechanism is similar to that of the pure fluid but occurs with much smaller nucleation rates even at comparable degrees of undercooling. Also, the growth of the crystalline cluster in the mixture proceeds at a pace about 1 order of magnitude slower than in the pure system. Possibly, this slow dynamics of the mixture is related to the occurrence and subsequent relaxation of icosahedral structures in the growing crystal as well as in the liquid surrounding it.     

Evaporation of a binary liquid mixture

An apparatus was designed to measure the evaporation rates of the components comprising a binary liquid mixture, from a horizontal surface, under condi Evaporation studies were conducted on the ethanol-water system. The effects on the evaporation rate of air velocity and liquid composition were investiThe experimental evaporation rates were shown to depend on vapour pressure driving force. For the pure component, the evaporation exhibited a direct li For ethanol-water mixtures the total and ethanol component evaporation increased with increasing ethanol concentration, while that of the water compone     

Measurement and prediction of binary mixture flash point

The flash points of three binary mixtures, containing n-heptane, o-xylene, m-xylene and ethylbenzene, were measured by Pensky-Martens closed cup tester. The experimental data were compared with the calculated values using Liaw’s Model with the application of Raoult’s Law and Wilson equation. These equations were in good qualitative agreement.     

Wetting effect of aqueous binary mixed solutions of cationic and nonionic surfactants

Wetting of low-energy solid surfaces (polymers, hydrophobized glass) with aqueous solutions of binary mixtures of cationic and nonionic surfactants was investigated at molar fractions of the cationic surfactant of 0.2, 0.5, and 0.8. In a narrow concentration range, the non-additive effect of wetting was observed: wetting of the solid surfaces with solutions of the mixtures is better than that would be expected from the additive behavior of the components. The magnitude of the effect depends on the surface energy of the solid substrate, total surfactant concentration in a mixture, and molar fraction of the cationic component. The wetting effect of surfactant mixtures with respect to low-energy solid surfaces can be predicted using the surface tension isotherms.     

On the effect of marangoni flow on evaporation rates of heated water drops

In this letter we show that the Marangoni flow contribution to the evaporation rate of small heated water droplets resting on hot substrates is negligible. We compare data of evaporating droplet experiments with numerical results and assess the effect of Marangoni flow and its contribution to the evaporation process. We demonstrate that heat conduction inside these water droplets is sufficient to give an accurate estimate of evaporation rates. Although convection in evaporating water droplets remains an open problem, our aim in this study is to demonstrate that these effects can be neglected in the investigation of evaporation rate evaluation. It is worth noting that the presented results apply to volatile heated drops which might differ from spontaneously evaporating cases.     

Dynamic scaling of the critical binary mixture methanol-hexane

Acoustical attenuation spectrometry, dynamic light scattering, shear viscosity, density, and heat capacity measurements of the methanol/n-hexane mixture of critical composition have been performed. The critical part in the sonic attenuation coefficients nicely fits to the empirical scaling function of the Bhattacharjee-Ferrell [Phys. Rev. A 24, 1643 (1981)] dynamic scaling model if the theoretically predicted scaled half-attenuation frequency Omega(12) (BF)=2.1 is used. The relaxation rates of order parameter fluctuations, as resulting from the acoustical spectra, within the limits of experimental error agree with those from a combined evaluation of the light scattering and shear viscosity measurements. Both series of data display power law with amplitude Gamma(0)=44x10(9) s(-1). The amplitude of the fluctuation correlation length follows as xi(0)=0.33 nm from the light scattering data and as xi(0)=0.32 nm from the amplitude of the singular part of the heat capacity if the two-scale factor universality relation is used. The adiabatic coupling constant g=0.11 results from the amplitude of the critical contribution to the acoustical spectrum near the critical point, in conformity with g=0.12 as following from the variation of the critical temperature with pressure along the critical line and the thermal expansion coefficient.     

Phase behavior of a symmetrical binary fluid mixture

We have investigated the phase behavior of a symmetrical binary fluid mixture for the situation where the chemical potentials mu(1) and mu(2) of the two species differ. Attention is focused on the set of interparticle interaction strengths for which, when mu(1)=mu(2), the phase diagram exhibits both a liquid-vapor critical point and a tricritical point. The corresponding phase behavior for the case mu(1) not equalmu(2) is investigated via integral-equation theory calculations within the mean spherical approximation and grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations. We find that two possible subtypes of phase behavior can occur, these being distinguished by the relationship between the triple lines in the full phase diagram in the space of temperature, density, and concentration. We present the detailed form of the phase diagram for both subtypes and compare with the results from GCMC simulations, finding good overall agreement. The scenario via which one subtype evolves into the other is also studied, revealing interesting features.     

Diffusion-controlled evaporation of sodium dodecyl sulfate solution drops placed on a hydrophobic substrate

In this work, the effect of SDS anionic surfactant on the diffusion-controlled evaporation rate of aqueous solution drops placed on TEFLON-FEP substrate was investigated with 11 different SDS concentrations. Drop evaporation was monitored in a closed chamber having a constant RH of 54-57% by a video camera. The initial contact angle, θ(i) decreased from 104±2° down to 68±1° due to the adsorption of SDS both at the water-air and the solid-water interfaces. The adsorption of SDS on the solid surface was found to be 76% of that of its adsorption at the water-air interface by applying Lucassen-Reynders approach. An equation was developed for the comparison of the evaporation rates of drops having different θ(i) on the same substrate. It was found that the addition of SDS did not alter the drop evaporation rate considerably for the first 1200 s for all the SDS concentrations. The main difference was found to be the change of the mode of drop evaporation by varying the SDS concentration. The constant θ mode was operative up to 80 mM SDS concentration, whereas constant contact area mode was operative after 200 mM SDS concentrations due to rapid drop pining on the substrate.     

Phase diagram of a binary symmetric hard-core Yukawa mixture

We assess the accuracy of the self-consistent Ornstein-Zernike approximation for a binary symmetric hard-core Yukawa mixture by comparison with Monte Carlo simulations of the phase diagrams obtained for different choices of the ratio alpha of the unlike-to-like interactions. In particular, from the results obtained at alpha=0.75 we find evidence for a critical endpoint in contrast to recent studies based on integral equation and hierarchical reference theories. The variation of the phase diagrams with range of the Yukawa potential is investigated.     

Analysis of composition complicated binary mixture by quantitative SEC

The analyses of the composition of a binary mixture composed of two kinds of industrial complicated materials have great importance for formulation in practice. The present paper provides a quantitative size exclusion chromatography (SEC) method based on the principle of absolute quantification of SEC to solve the problem. The conventional data treatment procedure for the differential refractive index (DRI) signal of SEC H(V) is improved first by dividing it with the injected sample weight and leads to a novel defined weight normalized distribution H _w(V) and its integral I _w(V). These two distributions reflect the response constant of the sample in addition to the conventional normalized distribution F(V). The difference of the average response constants of the composing components provides a sensitive method to compute the composition of their mixture from its H _w(V) or I _w(V). The method was applied to mixtures of a kind of industrial asphalt and paraffin diluents as an example, and successful results are obtained. __________ Translated from Acta Polymerica Sinica, 2007, 8: 689–692 [译自:高分子学报]     

Capillary condensation of a binary mixture in slit-like pores

We investigate the capillary condensation of two model fluid mixtures in slit-like pores, which exhibit different demixing properties in the bulk phase. The interactions between adsorbate particles are modeled by using Lennard-Jones (12,6) potentials and the adsorbing potentials are of the Lennard-Jones (9,3) type. The calculations are performed for different pore widths and at different concentrations of the bulk gas, by means of density functional theory. We evaluate the capillary phase diagrams and discuss their dependence on the parameters of the model. Our calculations indicate that a binary mixture confined to a slit-like pore may exhibit rich phase behavior.     

Molecular simulation of binary mixture adsorption in buckytubes and MCM-41

MCM-41 and buckytubes are novel porous materials with controllable pore sizes and narrow pore size distributions. Buckytubes are carbon tubes with internal diameters in the range 1–5 urn. The structure of each tube is thought to be similar to one or more graphite sheets rolled up in a helical manner. MCM-41 is one member of a new family of highly uniform mesoporous silicate materials produced by Mobil, whose pore size can be accurately controlled in the range 1.5–10 nm. We present grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations of single fluid and binary mixture adsorption in a model buckytube, and nonlocal density functional theory (DFT) calculations of trace pollutant separation in a range of buckytubes and MCM-41 pores. Three adsorbed fluids are considered; methane, nitrogen and propane. The GCMC studies show that the more strongly adsorbed pure fluid is adsorbed preferentially from an equimolar binary mixture. Ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST) is shown to give good qualitative agreement with GCMC when predicting binary mixture separations. The DFT results demonstrate the very large increases in trace pollutant separation that can be achieved by tuning the pore size, structure, temperature and pressure of the MCM-41 and buckytube adsorbent systems to their optimal values.     

LiCl-Urea两元体系离子液体的研究

自从1914年第一种离子液体[EtNH3]NO3问世以来,室温离子液体的研究与应用取得了飞速的发展,离子液体以其诸多的优良性能,在催化、有机反应、萃取、以及气相色谱、电化学中得到了广泛地应用。近几年来,多元离子液体体系的研究受到关注。本文报导了由LiCl简单盐和Urea形成的二元体系离子液体,最低共熔点为55℃(LiCl的熔点是608℃,尿素本身的熔点是132℃)。     

Wetting behaviour of 5CB and 8CB and their binary mixtures above the isotropic transition

High resolution optical microscopy techniques have been employed to study the wetting properties of (5CB)_x/(8CB)_100-x (x=0, 10, 30, 50, 70, 90, and 100 wt %) binary mixture liquid crystal thin films above the isotropic transitions. Dewetting is found to occurr at T_w=65 and 42.5°C for the 5CB and 8CB samples, respectively, and to depend strongly on the 5CB content in the mixtures. First-order wetting transitions were seen for pure 5CB and 8CB samples; a higher order wetting transitions were obtained for the mixtures. For thin film 5CB, a large hysteresis (ΔT=30°C) between wetting and dewetting during the heating and cooling is obtained. This hysteresis is compared with the corresponding values obtained for pure 8CB and mixture samples. Evidence of the formation of nematic layers on the surface of isotropic droplets was found. Attempts to extract values of the contact line tension for these materials are made. In this respect the applicability of the modified Young's equation is questionable.     

On the thermodynamic work of separation of binary mixture components

Equations for calculating the thermodynamic work of separation of binary ideal solution components are discussed.