Equation of state and structural properties of the Weeks-Chandler-Andersen fluid

Molecular dynamics simulations have been carried out for the equation of state and percolation properties of the Weeks-Chandler-Andersen (WCA) system in its fluid phase as functions of density and temperature. The compressibility factor Z collapses well for the various isotherms, using an effective particle diameter for the WCA particle which is (in the usual WCA reduced units) sigma(e)=2(16)(1+T)(16), where T is the temperature. A corresponding "effective" packing fraction is zeta(e)=pisigma(e) (3)N6V, for N particles in volume V, which therefore scales out the effects of temperature. Using zeta(e) the simulation derived Z can be fitted to a simple analytic form which is similar to the Carnahan-Starling hard sphere equation of state and which is valid at all temperatures and densities where the WCA fluid is thermodynamically stable. The data, however, are not scalable onto the hard sphere equation of state for the complete packing fraction range. We explored the continuum percolation behavior of the WCA fluids. The percolation distance sigma(p) for the various states collapses well onto a single curve when plotted as sigma(p)sigma(e) against zeta(e). The ratio sigma(p)sigma(e) exhibits a monotonic decrease with increasing zeta(e) between the percolation line for permeable spheres and the glass transition limit, where sigma(p)sigma(e) approximately 1. The percolation packing fraction was calculated as a function of effective packing fraction and fitted to an empirical expression. The local coordination number at the percolation threshold showed a transition between the soft core and hard core limits from ca. 2:74 to 1:5, as previously demonstrated in the literature for true hard spheres. A number of simple analytic expressions that represent quite well the percolation characteristics of the WCA system are proposed.     

Forms of vibrations and structural changes in liquid state

Summary The forms of vibrations and displacements of particles in amorphous structures have been investigated. The particles, moving on highly non-linear amplitude, are responsible for the creation of disordered structures of amorphous bodies. The non-linear oscillators, even if 'few' in concentration, are characterized by unpredictable trajectories in phase space. The non-linear oscillators are fully developed in the liquid state above the crossover temperature T_cr and between T_cr and T_g their number decreases. Under T_g they completely disappear. The interconnection between the linear oscillators in blocks plays the most important role in the characteristic time spectra in liquid state. Using the additive properties of elements polarizibilities, the number of acoustical units in individual blocks at T_cr is estimated to be about 600 units. The diameter of blocks at T_cr was estimated to be about 1.8 nm. Even if the non-linear high amplitude motions disappear at solidification, the remnants of structural irregularity remain and the disordered structure of glass is formed.     

Equation of state of water under negative pressure

We report on the simultaneous measurements of the speed of sound and the density in liquid water under negative pressure. Application of a focused acoustic wave to the bulk liquid is able to generate negative pressures before nucleation of the vapor phase occurs. A method for time-resolved Brillouin scattering is developed to measure the speed of sound during the passage of a 1 MHz ultrasonic wave. This is coupled with a fiber optic probe hydrophone which allows the determination of the density. Together, these methods give an ambient temperature equation of state of metastable liquid water down to the acoustic cavitation threshold. Empirical equations of state of water are based on experimental data at positive pressure; the validity of their extrapolation to negative pressures had been tested only indirectly or with very weakly metastable liquid. We provide thermodynamic data that prove the fidelity of recent equations of state down to -26 MPa. However, this raises questions regarding the nature of the cavitation threshold observed in acoustic experiments, which is far less negative than expected.     

Solid state structural changes at high temperatures in cadmium iodide

Further experiments on the heating of polytypic crystals of cadmium iodide at high temperatures have yielded more information on the kinetics of stacking faults existing in the crystals and their role in structural transformations and polytype formation. The streaking of X-ray reflections progressively decreases in successive heating runs, showing that random stacking faults resulting from partial dislocations are gradually eliminated and that no fresh dislocations are created by heating. On the other hand, the extent of arcing of the reflections always increases, implying that more dislocations, both unit and partial, which had been earlier held up against some obstacles, move into existing tilt boundaries. The arc stays practically unchanged during further heating runs, thus indicating that the process of heating does not produce fresh dislocations and that no further significant movement of the dislocations takes place. The common type 4H has been established as the phase of maximum thermodynamic stability. The successive phase transformations in a crystal have revealed a systematic elimination of the stacking faults. The long period polytypes have been found to be thermally more stable than the short period polytypes.     

Kinetics of strain-induced structural changes under high pressure

A mechanism-based microscale kinetic theory for strain-induced structural changes (SCs) (that includes phase transformations (PTs) and chemical reactions (CRs)) is developed. Time is not an independent parameter in this theory; instead, plastic strain is a time-like parameter. Kinetics depends essentially on the ratio of the yield strengths of phases. Stationary and nonstationary solutions of the kinetic equations are analyzed for various cases, including SCs between two phases in an inert matrix and between three phases in silicon and germanium. A number of experimental phenomena are explained, and material parameters controlling the kinetics of strain-induced SCs are determined. This includes the possibility of intensification (or suppression) of SCs at the initial stage of straining by adding a stronger (or weaker) inert phase, zero pressure hysteresis that however has nothing to do with phase equilibrium pressure, the possibility of obtaining some phases (that cannot be obtained under hydrostatic loading) under strains, and the possibility to obtain some phases under relatively small shear, which disappear under larger shear.     

Vibrational spectroscopy studies of structural changes in lignin under microwave irradiation

Structural changes that occur in lignin surface-modified with nickel nanoparticles during microwave- assisted dry reforming (DR) are studied via vibrational spectroscopy. IR spectroscopy reveals that the nickel deposition has a considerable effect on the structural characteristics of lignin. It is found that nickel deposition from an acetate salt substantially reduces the intensity of absorption bands at 1700 cm^?1. This finding suggests that Ni(2+) interacts mostly with formate groups, which are subsequently oxidized to carboxylate groups. It is shown that with the deposition of metallic nickel particles from a colloidal nickel solution in toluene prepared via metal vapor synthesis, the nickel particles do not interact with the surface functional groups of the lignin. Deep conversion of an organic mass of lignin by DR to form synthesis gas reduces the intensity of the absorption bands of the identified functional groups and raises the intensity of the absorption bands of the aromatic rings. Raman spectroscopy shows that during lignin conversion, the aromatic rings condense partially to form amorphized graphite. In operando studies reveal that the DR of nickel-modified lignin heated to 200–400°C results in the isolation of vanillic oxygenates that are probably intermediate products of reforming.     

Equation of state of colloidal dispersions

We present a comparison of experimentally and theoretically determined osmotic pressures for various colloidal dispersions. Experimental data is collected from several different silica and polystyrene dispersions. The theoretical pressure determinations are based on the primitive model combined with the cell model, and the physical quantities are calculated exactly using Monte Carlo simulations in the canonical and grand canonical ensemble. The input to the simulations in terms of colloidal particle size, surface charge density, and so forth are taken directly from experiments, and the approach does not contain any adjustable parameters. The agreement between theory and experiment is very good without any fitting parameters, showing that the simplifications behind the primitive model and the cell model are physically sound. The results reveal a surprising correspondence between the equations of state in spherical and planar geometries, indicating that the particle shape is of secondary importance in dispersions dominated by repulsive interactions. For one of the silica dispersions, we have also investigated how various monovalent counterions influence the swelling properties. Within experimental error, we are unable to detect any ion specificity, which is further support for the theoretical models used.     

固态高聚物状态方程的研究

本文从理论上导出了一个新的三参数固态高聚物的状态方程, 在不发生转变的温度区域内, 它适用于描述固态高聚物的压强-体积-温度关系。方程形式简单, 物理参数的意义较明确。     

Water state in nanocrystals of zirconium dioxide prepared under hydrothermal conditions and its influence on structural transformations

The state of water in the nanocrystals of zirconium dioxide prepared via hydrothermal synthesis has been studied. Water molecules are localized at the nanoparticles surface as well as in the crystal structure of tetragonal modification of zirconia. The effect of water elimination on the structural transformations in the nanocrystals has been analyzed. Stabilization of tetragonal modification of zirconia at the lower temperature range is related to the presence of water in the nanocrystals.     

Equation of state for mercury: revisited

An analytical equation of state by Song and Mason is developed to calculate the PVT properties of mercury. The equation of state is based on the statistical-mechanical perturbation theory of hard convex bodies and can be written as a fifth-order polynomial in the density. There exists three temperature-dependent parameters in the equation of state; the second virial coefficient, an effective molecular volume, and a scaling factor for the average contact pair distribution function of hard convex bodies. The temperature-dependant parameters have been calculated using corresponding-states correlations based on the surface tension and the liquid density at the normal boiling point. Employing the present equation of state, we have calculated the PVT properties of mercury over a wide range of temperatures and pressures. The average absolute deviation for the calculated density of mercury in the saturation and compressed states is 1.09%.     

Equation of state for hard-sphere fluid in restricted geometry

Many practical applications require the knowledge of the equation of state of fluids in restricted geometry. We study a hard-sphere fluid at equilibrium in a narrow cylindrical pore with hard walls for pore radii R<((square root 3)+2)/4 (in units of the hard sphere diameter). In this case each particle can interact only with its nearest neighbors, which makes possible the use of analytical methods to study the thermodynamics of the system. Using a transfer operator formalism and expanding in low- and high-pressure regions, we can obtain a simple analytical equation of state for almost all ranges of pressure. The results agree with Monte Carlo simulations. Additionally, it is shown that a convenient analytical representation can be chosen to accurately describe the equation of state within the error of the Monte Carlo simulation.     

Structure changes in glassforming liquids upon cooling and compression

Upon cooling and compression, both the thermodynamic and the kinetic properties of glassformers change. In fragile glassformers, these changes suggest changes in the local structure of the liquid. Thermodynamic data may then provide a measure of structure changes. Special criteria for structure changes in terms of energy and pressure fluctuations in the isochoric system are proposed; recent theoretical results allow one to rewrite the criteria in terms of long- and short-time thermodynamic characteristics of the liquid. Based on the proposed criteria, we discuss the changes in the local structure due to temperature and pressure variations.     

Equation of state of nonadditive d-dimensional hard-sphere mixtures

An equation of state for a multicomponent mixture of nonadditive hard spheres in d dimensions is proposed. It yields a rather simple density dependence and constitutes a natural extension of the equation of state for additive hard spheres proposed by us [A. Santos, S. B. Yuste, and M. Lopez de Haro, Mol. Phys. 96, 1 (1999)]. The proposal relies on the known exact second and third virial coefficients and requires as input the compressibility factor of the one-component system. A comparison is carried out both with another recent theoretical proposal based on a similar philosophy and with the available exact results and simulation data in d=1, 2, and 3. Good general agreement with the reported values of the virial coefficients and of the compressibility factor of binary mixtures is observed, especially for high asymmetries and/or positive nonadditivities.     

Equation of state of the hard sphere liquid

Using the results of Monte Carlo simulation, equations of state of hard sphere liquids are calculated for 106 values of the fill factor η= 0.005–0.530 (step of 0.005). In the region of liquid phase stability the absolute accuracy of about 0.00001–0.00008 is reached. Correctness of the accuracy estimate is discussed. The results obtained are compared with reported equations of state of the hard sphere liquid.     

Equation of state for the phase coexistence region of insoluble monolayers under consideration of the entropy nonideality

The equation of state for the monolayer with a fluid (G, LE)/condensed (LC) phase transition derived earlier (Fainerman, V.B.; Vollhardt, D. J. Phys. Chem. B 1999, 103, 145) in the framework of a quasichemical approach is generalized. A term is added that takes into account the entropy nonideality of mixing of the monomers and clusters of amphiphilic molecules. The results calculated from the proposed equations agree well with the experimental Pi-A isotherms obtained for various types of amphiphilic monolayers. The values of molecular areas of the amphiphilic molecules estimated from the fitting of experimental data to the proposed equation are quite similar to the real values. Another equation of state capable of describing the fluid state of insoluble monolayers and based on equations for the chemical potential of the solvent in the bulk phase and in the surface layer (Fainerman, V. B.; Vollhardt, D. J. Phys. Chem. B 2006, 110, 10436) is also generalized to be extended to the fluid/condensed phase transition region (A < A(c)), taking into account entropy nonideality for mixing solvent molecules, monomers, and clusters of amphiphilic molecules. The values calculated on this basis agree also well with the experimental data.