超临界水中碳酸钠团簇成核与生长分子动力学模拟

应用分子动力学方法研究了碳酸钠颗粒在超临界水中的成核与生长过程. 计算了温度为700-1100 K、压力在23-30 MPa下碳酸钠的团聚过程, 计算时间为1 ns. 对体系结合能与径向分布函数的分析表明, 碳酸钠成核过程主要受静电作用的影响. 在超临界态下, 水分子与Na⁺和CO₃^2- 之间的静电作用降低, Na⁺与CO₃^2- 能够很容易碰撞形成Na₂CO₃小团簇. 在Na₂CO₃整个成核过程中, 单个离子的碰撞在前50 ps 内完成, 同时离子碰撞速率达到10³⁰ cm^-3·s^-1. 另外, 在成核阶段温度的影响比压力更加明显, 温度越高, 离子碰撞速率越快, 形成的初始团簇越多. 而压力对Na₂CO₃团簇的进一步生长影响较大.     

O与O2在Au团簇上吸附的密度泛函理论研究

采用基于密度泛函理论(DFT)的Dmol³程序系统研究了O原子与O₂在 Au₁₉与Au₂₀团簇上的吸附反应行为. 结果表明: O在Au₁₉团簇顶端洞位上的吸附较Au₂₀强; 在侧桥位吸附强度相近. O与O₂在带负电Au团簇上吸附较强, 在正电团簇吸附较弱. 从O―O键长看, 当金团簇带负电时, O―O键长较长, 中性团簇次之, 正电团簇中O―O键长较短, 因而O₂活化程度依次减弱. 电荷布居分析表明, Au团簇带负电时, O与O₂得电子数较中性团簇多, 而团簇带正电时, 得电子数较少. 差分电荷密度(CDD)表明, O₂与Au团簇作用时, 金团簇失电子, O₂的π^*轨道得电子, 使O―O键活化. O₂在Au₁₉^-团簇上解离反应活化能为1.33 eV, 较中性团簇低0.53 eV; 而在Au₁₉⁺上活化能为2.27 eV, 较中性团簇高0.41 eV, 这与O₂在不同电性Au₁₉团簇O―O键活化规律相一致.     

二元铜族团簇负离子催化CO氧化反应机理

用密度泛函理论B3LYP方法研究了二元铜族团簇负离子AuAg^-, AuCu^-和AgCu^-催化CO氧化反应的详细机理. 计算结果表明: CO在混合团簇中的吸附位顺序为Cu>Au>Ag; O₂也优先吸附到Cu上, 其次为Ag, 最难的为Au; 另外, O₂分子较CO分子易于吸附到混合团簇上. CO氧化反应有三条反应通道, 在热力学和动力学上均容易进行. AuAg-团簇催化CO氧化反应的最优反应通道为CO插入AuAgO₂^-中的Ag―O键形成中间体[Au―AgC(O―O)O]^-, 然后直接分解形成CO₂和AuAgO^-, 或另一个CO分子进攻中间体[Au―AgC(O―O)O]^-形成两分子的CO₂和AuAg^-. 而AuCu^-和AgCu^-催化CO氧化反应的最优反应通道为CO和O₂共吸附到团簇上,然后形成四元环中间体,最后四元环中间体分解形成产物或另一个CO分子进攻四元环中间体从而形成产物. 第二个CO分子的协同效应不明显. AuAg^-和AuCu^-对CO氧化反应催化活性强于Au₂^-团簇, 因此, Ag和Cu掺杂可以提高金团簇的催化活性, 与之前实验研究结果一致.     

二元钠硅酸盐的精细结构和 29Si化学位移的从头计算研究

本文应用量子化学从头计算方法研究二元钠硅酸盐的精细结构，对典型的系列二元钠硅酸盐团簇模型采用闭壳层Hartree-Fock(RHF)方法和基组6-31G(d)优化构型，并计算了硅酸盐团簇中 ²⁹Si核磁共振化学位移δ_iso^Si，用硅氧四面体应力指数这一精细结构参数分析了计算得到的δ_iso^Si数值。同时对 ²⁹Si核磁共振化学位移δ_iso^Si的计算值和实验值进行比较，并讨论了两者间在数值上存在的差异。研究表明， ²⁹Si核磁共振化学位移与硅酸盐的精细结构密切相关，这说明硅酸盐的宏观物理和化学性质可能主要依赖于其精细结构而非初级结构单元-硅氧四面体。     

配体稳定的二元过渡金属团簇[PdAu8(PR3)8]2＋(R＝Me, OMe, H, F, Cl, CN)的量子化学理论研究

采用从头计算MP2方法和密度泛函理论方法, 对过渡金属团簇[PdAu₈(PR₃)₈]^2＋(R＝Me, OMe, H, F, Cl, CN)的几何结构、电子结构以及团簇各组成部分之间的结合能进行了研究. MP2方法和SVWN局域泛函能够对团簇的结构给予准确的描述, 而离域泛函BP86, PBE, BLYP和杂化泛函B3LYP则过高地估计了团簇的几何结构参数. 电子结构研究表明Pd, Au原子通过 d电子的成键作用构成团簇内核[PdAu₈]^2＋, [PdAu₈]^2＋与PR₃配体则通过“σ给予/π反馈”模式成键. PR₃配体与[PdAu₈]^2＋的结合能够加强Pd-Au之间的成键作用, 增大前线轨道能级间隙, 从而提高团簇的稳定性. PR₃配体中R基团供、吸电能力的变化对[PdAu₈(PR₃)₈]^2＋结构的影响较小, 但对[PdAu₈]^2＋-PR₃结合能的影响较大. 能量分析显示不同PR₃与[PdAu₈]^2＋之间具有相近的轨道作用能, 与R基团供、吸电能力相关的非轨道作用能成为影响两者连接牢固程度的决定因素.     

TinO2和TinO2-(n=1-10)团簇的几何结构、电子和磁性质

基于密度泛函理论(DFT)的B3LYP方法, 研究了Ti_nO₂和Ti_nO₂^- (n=1-10)团簇的几何结构、电子结构以及磁性. 结果表明, 两个氧以分离的原子状态吸附在金属团簇的表面, 呈现出以一个钛原子为中心的O-Ti-O 的相邻吸附形式. 中性团簇和阴离子团簇的能量最低结构相似. 稳定性分析表明Ti_nO₂具有很高的稳定性, 特别是TiO₂和Ti₇O₂. 此外, 详细讨论了团簇的电离势、电子亲和能、电子解离能和能隙. 基于最低能量结构, 讨论了团簇的磁性, 发现电荷从Ti 原子向O原子转移, 并且电荷转移主要发生在Ti_nO₂的Ti-3d、Ti-4s和O-2p轨道. 磁性团簇中反铁磁序占据主导, 磁矩主要来源Ti-3d电子的贡献, 而两个氧原子的贡献非常小.     

CnBδ(δ=0, ±1; n =1～6)团簇的结构、稳定性和光谱

采用密度泛函理论(DFT)的B3LYP方法,在6-31G*和6-311＋G(3df)水平上对C_nB(n=1～6)团簇及其阴离子和阳离子的几何构型和电子结构进行了优化和振动频率计算.得到了C_nB(n=1～6)团簇的电离能,绝热电子亲合势以及C_nB^δ(δ=0,±1)团簇的能隙.结果表明C_nB^－(n=1～6)团簇的基态构型均为线形,这与等电子的C_n簇合物的结构是一致的; C_nB(n=1～6)团簇的基态构型中,除C₂B为不对称的三角形,C₆B为具有C_2v对称性的环状结构外,其余均为线形结构.阳离子团簇中n=2、3、6的基态结构具有C_2v对称性外,其它几个均为线形结构.从几何参数和振动频率上发现,采用密度泛函B3LYP方法在6-311＋G(3df)和6-31G*两种基组上计算得到的键长参数和振动频率非常接近,说明B3LYP方法在计算C_nB簇合物结构参数上对于基组的选择是不太敏感的.通过对C_nB(n=1～6)的光电子能谱性质的研究发现,C₄B容易获得一个电子形成阴离子团簇,但失去一个电子是很困难的,这与实验上观测到的结果非常吻合.     

嵌入纳米Fe颗粒的Fe液凝固过程的分子动力学模拟

采用Sutton-Chen 势函数及分子动力学(MD)方法对嵌入了Fe纳米团簇(半径从0.4-1.8 nm)的Fe液凝固过程进行了模拟. 模拟结果表明只有当嵌入的纳米团簇半径超过0.82 nm才能降低凝固时所需要的临界过冷度(ΔT^*), 起到诱导凝固的作用. 同时采用原子键型指数法(CTIM-2)对样本在凝固过程中的原子结构进行了标定, 通过观察微观结构演变发现当嵌入纳米团簇能够作为凝固核心时, 体系按照hcp-fcc 交叉形核的方式长大. 同时还发现嵌入纳米团簇对体系凝固过程晶核的生长方向及凝固的最终构型存在“结构遗传效应”.     

超临界水中醋酸锌水解反应的分子动力学模拟

氧化锌(ZnO)是一种重要的化工原料, 超临界水热合成法制备纳米ZnO的第一步是锌盐与碱或水发生水解反应生成Zn(OH)₂, 后者接着脱水生成ZnO. 以Zn(CH₃COO)₂为原料, 直接和超临界水(SCW)反应能够制备纳米级的ZnO颗粒, 但对反应机理的探讨较少. 本研究利用分子动力学模拟超临界条件下Zn(CH₃COO)₂水解反应过程中的结构和能量变化, 发现Zn(CH₃COO)₂在SCW中容易聚集成无定形的团簇, 1个Zn²⁺平均和5个CH₃COO^-和1个H₂O配位, 形成6配位的八面体结构. 处于Zn(CH₃COO)₂团簇和SCW界面的Zn²⁺能够和更多的H₂O配位. 水解反应后系统的势能降低, 同时伴随Zn(CH₃COO)₂团簇结构的改变. 反应产物OH^-分布在Zn(CH₃COO)₂团簇内部, 富集Zn²⁺, 而CH₃COOH则分布在SCW中. 本文的工作为超临界水热合成的反应过程提供了基本的理论依据.     

Sr2+和Ba2+水分子体系结构和结合能的从头算和ABEEM/MM研究

应用从头算方法和ABEEM/MM浮动电荷分子力场, 研究了水合碱土离子团簇Sr²⁺/Ba²⁺(H₂O)_n (n=1-6), 构建了离子-水相互作用的ABEEM/MM势能函数, 获得了水合离子团簇的稳定结构, 计算了结合能. 计算结果表明, ABEEM/MM方法的结果和从头算方法的结果有很好的一致性. 进一步应用ABEEM/MM对Sr²⁺和Ba²⁺水溶液进行了分子动力学模拟. 对Sr²⁺水溶液, 得到的Sr²⁺-水中氧原子的径向分布函数的第一和第二最高峰分别位于0.257和0.464 nm处, 第一和第二水合层的配位水分子数分别为9.2和11.4; 对Ba²⁺水溶液, 得到的Ba²⁺与水中氧原子的径向分布函数的第一和第二最高峰分别位于0.269和0.467 nm处, 第一和第二水合层的配位水分子数分别为9.9和12.4. 这与实验值或其它理论模拟结果有较好的一致性. 对比外层的水分子, 金属离子的极化作用使得溶液中第一水合层中水分子的O―H键长增长, HOH键角减小.     

Molecular Dynamics Studies of the Kinetics of Phase Changes in Clusters II: Crystal Nucleation from Molten (RbCl)256 and (RbCl)500 Clusters

Molecular dynamics computer simulations have been carried out to study the effects of cluster size and temperature on the nucleation rate of rubidium chloride clusters in the temperature range of 500-650 K. Clusters with 256 and 500 RbCl molecules have been studied and the results are compared with those obtained from 108 molecule clusters. The melting point (MP) of the clusters was observed to increase with the size of the clusters and can be described by a linear equation MP=997-405 N^−1/3, where N is the number of molecules in the cluster. The nucleation rate is found to decrease with increasing cluster size or increasing nucleation temperature. Both classical nucleation theory and diffuse interface theory are used to interpret our observed results.     

Nucleating Effect and Dynamic Crystallization of a Poly(propylene)/Talc System

The addition of nucleating agents to semicrystalline polymersis largely used in the processing industry of plastic materials to improve some properties of polymers as well as for economical and technological reasons. In this work, the influence of talc concentration on the nucleation efficiency of poly(propylene) (PP), as well as on the non-isothermal kinetics of the crystallization of that system were determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The nucleating efficiency was determined by Fillon's method, and the dynamic nucleation by Ozawa's method at cooing rates of 2, 5 and 10°C min^–1. The results show that both the degree of crystallinity and the crystallization temperature increase with the filler content and decrease at higher cooling rates and that Ozawa's (n,) exponent and the nucleation efficiency increase with temperature and filler content. It was also shown that the nucleating efficiency of talc in poly(propylene) is comparable to the best heterogeneous nucleating agents available. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Contact-mediated nucleation in melt emulsions investigated by rheo-nuclear magnetic resonance

Increasing the efficiency of disperse phase crystallization is of great interest for melt emulsion production as the fraction of solidified droplets determines product quality and stability. Nucleation events must appear within every single one of the μm-sized droplets for solidification. Therefore, primary crystallization requires high subcooling and is, thus, time and energy consuming. Contact-mediated nucleation is a mechanism for intensifying the crystallization process. It is defined as the successful nucleation of a subcooled liquid droplet induced by contact with an already crystallized droplet. We investigated contact-mediated nucleation under shear flow conditions up to shear rates of 457 s⁻¹ for a quantitative assessment of this mechanism. Rheo-nuclear magnetic resonance was successfully used for the time-resolved determination of the solids fraction of the dispersed phase of melt emulsions upon contact-mediated nucleation events. The measurements were carried out in a dedicated Taylor–Couette cell. The efficiency of contact-mediated nucleation decreased with increasing shear rate, whereas the effective second order kinetic constant increased approximately linearly at small shear rates and showed a linear decrease for shear rates higher than about 200 s⁻¹. These findings are in accordance with coalescence theory. Thus, the nucleation rate is optimal at specific flow conditions. There are limitations for successful inoculation at a low shear rate because of rare contact events and at a high shear rate due to too short contact time.     

Fractionated crystallization of α‐ and β‐nucleated polypropylene droplets

A layer multiplying coextrusion process was used to produce multilayered polypropylene/polystyrene (PP/PS) films with various nucleating agents. When heated into the melt, the thin PP layers broke up into submicron PP droplets that exhibited fractionated crystallization. If the initial PP layers were 20 nm or less, the resulting droplets exhibited exclusively homogeneous nucleation. If a nucleating agent was added, the systematic departure from homogeneous nucleation provided insight into the nature of the heterogeneous nucleation. In this study, we used thermal analysis, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and wide angle X‐Ray scattering (WAXS) to examine the effect of two nucleating agents. We confirmed with WAXS and AFM that a soluble sorbitol nucleating agent for the PP α‐form operates in three concentration regimes as proposed in a previous study. Morphologically, homogeneous nucleation of the submicron droplets produced a granular texture. The correlation length from small‐angle X‐Ray scattering (SAXS) suggested that the grains contained 1–3 mesophase domains. Drawing on classical nucleation theory, the critical size nucleus of an individual mesophase domain was estimated to be about 2 nm³, which was considerably smaller than the mesophase domain. This pointed to mesophase crystallization that included the processes of nucleation and growth. Additional experiments were performed with nucleating agents for the PP β‐form. However, they were not effective in nucleating crystallization of the droplets, presumably because they were essentially insoluble in PP and the nucleating particles were too large to be accommodated in the PP droplets. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2011     

Nucleation Activation and Spherical Crystals Morphology of LLDPE/LDPE/TiO2 Nanocomposites Prepared by Non-Isothermal Crystallization

The nucleation activation of TiO₂ nanoparticles in the linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE)/low-density polyethylene (LDPE)/TiO₂ nanocomposites prepared by non-isothermal crystallization, the spherical crystals morphology of the etched LLDPE/LDPE and LLDPE/LDPE/TiO₂ composites were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), respectively. The results showed that the heterogeneous nucleation activation of TiO₂ nanoparticles was accelerated by the fast cooling rate. The spherical crystals in the LLDPE/LDPE and LLDPE/LDPE/TiO₂ composites were ascribed to the same crystal structure. It was worth to note that there was distinct difference between the morphology of the cocrystallization LLDPE/LDPE crystals and that of the independent crystallization LLDPE/LDPE crystals.     

Crystallization behavior of a propylene/ethylene copolymer: Nucleation and a clarifying additive

The isothermal crystallization behavior of a propylene/ethylene copolymer containing a clarifying additive has been studied in detail and compared with the equivalent unclarified grade. Differential scanning calorimetry was used to obtain crystallization exotherms for both the unclarified system and the clarified analogue. Avrami analysis of these data was then performed, using both linear and nonlinear data‐fitting techniques. Linear analysis revealed a change from a primary to a secondary crystallization process in the clarified system at about 50% relative crystallinity. Nonlinear techniques, however, led to more reliable estimates of the Avrami parameters and provided estimates of crystallization‐induction times. By combining the preceding with isothermal crystal‐growth‐rate data, the nucleation density in each material was obtained as a function of crystallization temperature. In the unclarified case, this fell exponentially with temperature. The nucleation density in the sorbitol‐clarified copolymer was 10³–10⁶ times greater than in the unclarified material, but decreased only slowly with increasing crystallization temperature throughout the temperature range investigated here. This final result appears entirely contradictory to previous morphological work in which a distinct morphological transition was observed at 128 °C and associated with a marked reduction in the nucleating efficiency of the sorbitol. Possible explanations for this apparent contradiction are considered. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 2178–2189, 2002     

Effect of magnetic field on sodium arsenate metastable zone width and crystal nucleation kinetics for crystallization

Sodium arsenate, the main component of arsenic-containing solid waste pollutants, causes serious environmental health threats. Crystallization is one of the effective methods for separating and purifying sodium arsenate from arsenic-alkali residue lixivium. However, the crystallization process is limited for its low observability and the lack of separation and purification data. In this work, a laser detection system with a magnetic field generator was designed, and the solubility, metastable zone width, interfacial tension, interfacial entropy factor, crystal nucleation, and growth rate of sodium arsenate were investigated in a constant composition environment. The results showed that the solubility, metastable zone width, interfacial tension, and interfacial entropy factor decreases with the presence of a magnetic field. The magnetic field shortened the crystallization induction time and changed the nucleation and growth rate of sodium arsenate. Under the magnetic field, the nucleation rate increased from 2.43 × 10¹⁶ to 8.98 × 10¹⁷ (s m³)⁻¹, and the growth rate decreased from 4.94 × 10⁻⁸ to 2.73 × 10⁻⁸ (s m³)⁻¹, the growth mechanism of sodium arsenate as a continuous growth mode was unchanged. In addition, the X-ray diffraction and infrared showed that the crystal structure of sodium arsenate is unaffected by the magnetic field, indicating that the enhancement of the crystallization process of sodium arsenate with the magnetic field could be a feasible method in engineering application.     

Unraveling the Pressure Effect on Nucleation Processes of Amyloidogenic Proteins

The influence of pressure on the nucleation rate of insulin under fibril‐forming conditions was studied and subsequently analysed using classical nucleation theory. The aim was a better understanding and quantification of the influence of pressure on protein aggregation/fibrillation reactions. The application of pressure has a drastic accelerating effect on the nucleation and growth process of insulin fibrils. We show that this effect arises from a volume decrease upon nucleus formation, due to formation of a less hydrated and more compact transition state that can be quantified extending nucleation theory by a pressure–volume term. Conversely, the absolute values of the lag time and the critical size of the nucleus cannot be satisfactorily described by the classical nucleation theory, which might be due to the presence of secondary effects, such as parallel aggregation pathways or fragmentation processes.     

A real-time AFM study on crystal nucleation and growth in nanodroplets of isotactic polypropylene

Isotactic polypropylene (iPP) nanodroplets were prepared by using the classical droplet method in this study. The formation of nanodroplets allowed the controlled observation of polymer nucleation as well as access to crystal growth at exceptionally high supercooling in iPP. Three cases including the heterogeneous nucleation and fast crystallization in iPP droplets, the formation of multiple independent homogeneous nuclei within a single droplet and a single nucleus within a single droplet were detected by using atomic force microscopy (AFM) during gradually cooling after remelting the nanodroplets. Moreover, it is found that when the volume of droplet is larger than the value of ca. 130000 nm3, the first case was observed. Otherwise, the latter two cases appeared. The temperature at which the onset of nucleation was observed in individual droplets was found to be mainly dependent on height of the droplets when the size scale of the droplet is comparable to the size of the critical nucleus in at least one dimension, which indicates the nucleation behavior under confinement.     

聚乳酸的非等温结晶行为

用差示扫描量热法(DSC)研究聚乳酸(PLA)从熔体及玻璃态为初始条件下的非等温结晶行为,采用Ozawa方程、Mo法、Khanna法和Kissinger法对结晶动力学参数进行计算处理。 实验结果表明,这几种方法均适合处理PLA的非等温结晶过程,而Khanna法提出的结晶速率系数(CRC)能够方便地评价PLA相对结晶速率的大小。 PLA从玻璃态升温结晶比从熔体降温结晶容易得多,升温过程有利于晶核生成,而降温有利于晶体生长。 升温结晶时,升温速率2.0 ℃/min时,结晶焓(ΔH_c)达到最大为27.1 J/g。 从熔体等速降温过程中,随着冷却速率的降低ΔH_c单调增加,冷却速率为0.25 ℃/min时ΔH_c增加到28.3 J/g。 在较低温度下从玻璃态结晶,主要表现为异相成核的二维生长方式。 在较高的温度下从玻璃态升温结晶及从熔体冷却结晶时,以均相成核的三维生长方式结晶为主。 与升温过程相比,冷却不利于晶核的生成,所以导致冷却过程总体ΔH_c偏低,扩散活化能偏大。