Study of diffusion of alkali metals and ammonium chlorides through nanofiltration membrane with selective layer

The diffusion of alkali metals and ammonium chlorides through an OPMN-KM3 composite nanofiltration membrane is studied as a function of the electrolyte concentration on both sides of the membrane. A model is proposed for calculating diffusion coefficients that takes into account changes in the electrolyte concentration in selective pores of membrane. The diffusion coefficients are calculated both using the proposed model and by Fick’s equation. The effect of the orientation of the membrane with respect to the diffusion flux on the diffusion coefficients of salts is analyzed.     

Measurements of molecular and thermal diffusion coefficients in ternary mixtures

Thermal diffusion coefficients in three ternary mixtures are measured in a thermogravitational column. One of the mixtures consists of one normal alkane and two aromatics (dodecane-isobutylbenzene-tetrahydronaphthalene), and the other two consist of two normal alkanes and one aromatic (octane-decane-1-methylnaphthalene). This is the first report of measured thermal diffusion coefficients (for all species) of a ternary nonelectrolyte mixture in literature. The results in ternary mixtures of octane-decane-1-methylnaphthalene show a sign change of the thermal diffusion coefficient for decane as the composition changes, despite the fact that the two normal alkanes are similar. In addition to thermal diffusion coefficients, molecular diffusion coefficients are also measured for three binaries and one of the ternary mixtures. The open-end capillary-tube method was used in the measurement of molecular diffusion coefficients. The molecular and thermal diffusion coefficients allow the estimation of thermal diffusion factors in binary and ternary mixtures. However, in the ternaries one also has to calculate phenomenological coefficients from the molecular diffusion coefficients. A comparison of the binary and ternary thermal diffusion factors for the mixtures comprised of octane-decane-1-methylnaphthalene reveals a remarkable difference in the thermal diffusion behavior in binary and ternary mixtures.     

LSPR Imaging: Simultaneous Single Nanoparticle Spectroscopy and Diffusional Dynamics

A wide-field localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) imaging method using a liquid crystal tunable filter (LCTF) is used to measure the scattering spectra of multiple Ag nanoparticles in parallel. This method provides the ability to characterize moving Ag nanoparticles by measuring the scattering spectra of the particles while simultaneously tracking their motion. Consequently, single particle diffusion coefficients can be determined. As an example, several single Ag nanoprisms are tracked, the LSPR scattering spectrum of each moving particle is obtained, and the single particle diffusion coefficient is determined from its trajectory. Coupling diffusion information with spectral information in real time is a significant advance and addresses many scientific problems, both fundamental and biological, such as cell membrane protein diffusion, functional plasmonic distributions, and nanoparticle growth mechanisms.     

槲皮素在溶液中的化学交换和自扩散运动

通过对溶于氘代二甲亚砜（DMSO d6）中的槲皮素的自扩散系数和槲皮素羟基质子与溶剂中水质子之间的交换速率常数的NMR测量,研究了交换速率常数与扩散系数随温度和含水量的变化情况.结果表明,化学交换与扩散系数是相互独立的两种运动,活泼质子的化学交换并不需要通过槲皮素分子的扩散而进行.但是活泼质子的表观扩散系数却显著地受化学交换的影响.当以活泼质子为对象时,这种影响需要引起足够的重视.     

Single particle tracking of complex diffusion in membranes: simulation and detection of barrier, raft, and interaction phenomena

Single particle tracking is being used increasingly to follow the motion of membrane-associated receptors and lipids. Anomalous and complex diffusive behaviors are generally found in cell membranes. We developed computational algorithms to simulate particle trajectories and to detect complex diffusive behaviors in two dimensions, including confined and convective diffusion, intramembrane barrier and raft phenomena, and interparticle interactions. Little useful information regarding barrier, raft, and interaction effects were provided by standard computational procedures for identification of anomalous diffusion, including analysis of mean squared displacement, distributions of diffusion rates and range, and time evolution of particle position. New algorithms were developed and optimized to detect complex diffusive behaviors from simulated single particle trajectories. A barrier detection algorithm was developed on the basis of spatial averaging of particle positions in trajectories. A raft detection algorithm utilized spatially resolved diffusion coefficients and particle density functions. An interaction algorithm utilized interparticle distance distributions. The algorithms developed here are applicable to identify biologically important diffusive phenomena in cell membranes.     

Molecular Diffusion Measurement in Lipid Bilayers over Wide Concentration Ranges: A Comparative Study

Molecular diffusion in biological membranes is a determining factor in cell signaling and cell function. In the past few decades, three main fluorescence spectroscopy techniques have emerged that are capable of measuring molecular diffusion in artificial and biological membranes at very different concentration ranges and spatial resolutions. The widely used methods of fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) and single‐particle tracking (SPT) can determine absolute diffusion coefficients at high (>100 μm^?2) and very low surface concentrations (single‐molecule level), respectively. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), on the other hand, is well‐suited for the intermediate concentration range of about 0.1–100 μm^?2. However, FCS in general requires calibration with a standard dye of known diffusion coefficient, and yields only relative measurements with respect to the calibration. A variant of FCS, z‐scan FCS, is calibration‐free for membrane measurements, but requires several experiments at different well‐controlled focusing positions. A recently established FCS method, electron‐multiplying charge‐coupled‐device‐based total internal reflection FCS (TIR‐FCS), referred to here as imaging TIR‐FCS (ITIR–FCS), is also independent of calibration standards, but to our knowledge no direct comparison between these different methods has been made. Herein, we seek to establish a comparison between FRAP, SPT, FCS, and ITIR–FCS by measuring the lateral diffusion coefficients in two model systems, namely, supported lipid bilayers and giant unilamellar vesicles.     

Diffusion at the liquid-vapor interface

Recently, the intrinsic sampling method has been developed in order to obtain, from molecular simulations, the intrinsic structure of the liquid-vapor interface that is presupposed in the classical capillary wave theory. Our purpose here is to study dynamical processes at the liquid-vapor interface, since this method allows tracking down and analyzing the movement of surface molecules, thus providing, with great accuracy, dynamical information on molecules that are "at" the interface. We present results for the coefficients for diffusion parallel and perpendicular to the liquid-vapor interface of the Lennard-Jones fluid, as well as other time and length parameters that characterize the diffusion process in this system. We also obtain statistics of permanence and residence time. The generality of our results is tested by varying the system size and the temperature; for the latter case, an existing model for alkali metals is also considered. Our main conclusion is that, even if diffusion coefficients can still be computed, the turnover processes, by which molecules enter and leave the intrinsic surface, are as important as diffusion. For example, the typical time required for a molecule to traverse a molecular diameter is very similar to its residence time at the surface.     

The Soret effect in dilute polymer solutions: influence of chain length, chain stiffness, and solvent quality

Thermal diffusion in dilute polymer solutions is studied by reverse nonequilibrium molecular dynamics. The polymers are represented by a generic bead-spring model. The influence of the solvent quality on the Soret coefficient is investigated. At constant temperature and monomer fraction, a better solvent quality causes a higher affinity for the polymer to the cold region. This may even go to thermal-diffusion-induced phase separation. The sign of the Soret coefficient changes in a symmetric nonideal binary Lennard-Jones solution when the solvent quality switches from good to poor. The known independence of the thermal diffusion coefficients of the molecular weight is reproduced for three groups of polymers with different chain stiffnesses. The thermal diffusion coefficients reach constant values at chain lengths of around two to three times the persistence length. Moreover, rigid polymers have higher Soret coefficients and thermal diffusion coefficients than more flexible polymers.     

Diffusivity of gases and main-chain cooperative motions in plasticized poly(vinyl chloride)

Permeability and time-lag measurements for H₂ and CO in poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) plasticized with tricresyl phosphate show that the apparent diffusion coefficients at first decrease as the plas-ticizer concentration is increased. The diffusion coefficients then increase as the additive concentration is raised above 15 wt %. These changes in the apparent diffusion coefficients can be related to the behavior of a variety of mechanical properties and are attributed to antiplasticization and plasticization effects of low and high concentrations of tricresyl phosphate, respectively. The antiplasticization-plasticization effects reflect altered molecular motions of the polymer. Carbon-13 NMR rotating-frame relaxation rate measurements show directly that the cooperative main-chain molecular motions of PVC are reduced when the additive acts as an antiplasticizer and are increased when the polymer is plasticized. Both the apparent diffusion coefficient and the rotating-frame relaxation rate have a similar dependence on additive concentration. An application of the molecular theory of diffusion of Pace and Datyner accounts qualitatively for the way in which additives alter the average chain interaction energy, cooperative polymer main-chain motions, and the diffusion coefficients of gaseous penetrants.     

Extending reversed-flow chromatographic methods for the measurement of diffusion coefficients to higher temperatures

A reversed-flow gas-chromatography (RF-GC) apparatus for the measurement of binary diffusion coefficients is described and utilized to measure the binary diffusion coefficients for several systems at temperatures from (300 to 723)K. Hydrocarbons are detected using flame ionization detection, and inert species can be detected by thermal conductivity. The present apparatus has been utilized to measure diffusion coefficients at substantially higher temperatures than previous RF-GC work. Characterization of the new apparatus was accomplished by comparing measured binary diffusion coefficients of dilute argon in helium to established reference values. Further diffusion coefficient measurements for dilute helium in argon and dilute nitrogen in helium (using thermal conductivity detection) and dilute methane in helium (using flame ionization detection) were performed and found to be in excellent agreement with literature values. The measurement of these well-established diffusion coefficients has shown that specific experimental conditions are required for accurate diffusion measurements using this technique, particularly at higher temperatures. Numerical simulations of the diffusion experiments are presented to demonstrate that artifacts of the analysis procedure must be specifically identified to ensure accuracy, particularly at higher temperatures.     

Resolving natural product epimer spectra by matrix-assisted DOSY

High resolution diffusion-ordered NMR spectroscopy allows the separation of signals from different species based on their diffusion coefficients. In general this requires that the NMR spectra of the components do not have overlapping signals, and that the diffusion coefficients are significantly different. Modifying the solvent matrix in which a sample is dissolved can change the diffusion coefficients observed, allowing resolution ("matrix-assisted DOSY"). We show here that dissolving the two naturally-occurring epimers of naringin in an aqueous solution of β-cyclodextrin causes both shift and diffusion changes, allowing the signals of the epimers to be distinguished. Chiral matrix-assisted DOSY has the potential to allow simple resolution and assignment of the spectra of epimers and enantiomers, without the need for derivatisation or for titration with a shift reagent.     

分子在ITQ-3分子筛窄孔道内扩散的过渡态理论模型

建立了一个基于过渡态理论的分子在ITQ-3窄孔道方向扩散的模型. 该模型中, 由于分子从空腔中的一个吸附位越过势垒到相邻的另一个空腔中的吸附位需要克服很大的势垒能, 因而分子在势垒处可以简化处理为只存在排斥势, 可得到扩散系数依赖温度和Lennard-Jones作用参数的解析关系. 用分子动力学方法对CF₄在ITQ-3上扩散进行了模拟并验证了解析关系的合理性. 分子动力学模拟计算得到的扩散活化能、势垒能和吸附位势能与实际值相吻合. 模拟结果也显示了扩散系数依赖于附载量, 表现为先增大后减小的变化模式. 扩散活化能的计算证实了这一变化机理, 即当附载量增加时, 由于处于空腔中的分子彼此抬高了势能, 降低了扩散活化能, 使得扩散系数随附载量的增加而增大, 之后由于堵塞效应, 扩散系数随附载量的增加而逐步减小.     

Taylor dispersion monitored by electrospray mass spectrometry: a novel approach for studying diffusion in solution

This work describes a novel approach for monitoring analyte diffusion in solution that is based on electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). A mass spectrometer at the end of a laminar flow tube is used to measure the Taylor dispersion of an initially sharp boundary between two solutions of different analyte concentration. This boundary is dispersed by the laminar flow profile in the tube. However, this effect is diminished by analyte diffusion that continuously changes the radial position, and hence the flow velocity of individual analyte molecules. The steepness of the resulting dispersion profile therefore increases with increasing diffusion coefficient of the analyte. A theoretical framework is developed to adapt the equations governing the dispersion process to the case of mass spectrometric detection. This novel technique is applied to determine the diffusion coefficients of choline and cytochrome c. The measured diffusion coefficients, (11.9 +/- 1.0) x 10(-10) m(2) s(-1) and (1.35 +/- 0.08) x 10(-10) m(2) s(-1), respectively, are in agreement with the results of control experiments where the Taylor dispersion of these two analytes was monitored optically. Due to the inherent selectivity and sensitivity of ESI-MS, it appears that the approach described in this work could become a valuable alternative to existing methods for studying diffusion processes, especially for experiments on multicomponent systems.     

Activity coefficients and diffusion coefficients of dilute aqueous solutions of lithium,sodium, and potassium hydroxides

A simplified version of Harned's conductimetric technique has been used to measure binary diffusion coefficients of aqueous lithium, sodium, and potassium hydroxides at 25°C from 0.002 to 0.14 mol-dm^–3. Because of the large difference in mobility between OH^– and the cations, the electrophoretic effect tends to reduce the rate of diffusion of the alkali metal hydroxides; the largest effect is observed for LiOH solutions. The measured diffusion coefficients are in excellent agreement with predictions of the Onsager-Fuoss theory of ion transport. Precise activity coefficients determined from the diffusion measurements are compared with activity coefficients obtained previously by emf methods.     

Diffusion coefficients from stopped-flow gas chromatography

Summary Mutual diffusion coefficients of two gases A and B can be determined in an empty gas chromatographic column by letting component B enter at an intermediate position of the column and continuously flow through a part only of it, as a carrier gas. The other component A is injected in a small amount instantaneously at the closed end of the column with the detector placed at the other end. By repeatedly stopping and then restoring after a short time the flow of B, narrow extra peaks are produced on the chromatographic elution curve, owing to diffusion of A into B. An equation is derived giving the area under the curve of each stop-peak as a function of time of the corresponding stop. Plotting the experimental data according to this equation permits the determination of the diffusion coefficient of A into B. Some results obtained by this method show negligible variations with changes in the experimental parameters.     

Calculation of diffusion coefficients for carbon dioxide + solute system near the critical conditions by non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulation

A non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulation was adopted to calculate the diffusion coefficients for a pseudo-binary system of carbon dioxide and for a carbon dioxide + solute system at 308.2 and 318.2 K. The calculated results were compared with the self- and tracer diffusion coefficients calculated by an equilibrium molecular dynamics simulation. The simulated results for the pseudo-binary system of carbon dioxide by the non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulation are in good agreement with the results of self diffusion coefficients for pure carbon dioxide by the equilibrium molecular dynamics simulation. The simulated results of mutual diffusion coefficients for the carbon dioxide + solute system by the non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulation are slightly lower than the results of the tracer diffusion coefficients by the equilibrium molecular dynamics simulation. The anomalous behavior of diffusion coefficients near the critical concentration was represented by the results of the non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulation.     

Determination of Diffusion Coefficients for Binary Nonelectrolyte Mixtures. A Free-Volume Predictive Approach

A diaphragm cell has been used to measure mutual diffusion coefficients at 25°C for four binary nonelectrolyte mixtures: ethylbenzene + n-hexane, carbon tetrachloride + ethylbenzene, cyclohexane + p-xylene, and 1,2-dichloroethane + cyclohexane. A free-volume predictive approach for binary mutual diffusion coefficients was developed and tested. Only infinite dilution diffusion coefficients, some readily available pure substance data, and UNIFAC group contribution parameters are used in the model. No binary equilibrium thermodynamic information is required. For 73 binary systems with an overall average absolute deviation of 5.2%, it has been shown that the developed method is better than two commonly available reference methods for the prediction of liquid diffusion coefficients.     

On the role of solute solvation and excluded-volume interactions in coupled diffusion

Coupled diffusion is observed in multicomponent liquid mixtures in which strong thermodynamic interactions occur. This phenomenon is described by cross terms in the matrix of multicomponent diffusion coefficients. This paper reports a theoretical analysis on the relative role of thermodynamic factors and Onsager cross-coefficients on cross-diffusion coefficients relevant to ternary mixtures containing macromolecules or colloidal particles in the presence of salting-out conditions. A new model based on frictional coefficients between solvated solutes is reported. This model predicts that the Onsager cross-coefficient is negative and contributes significantly to cross-diffusion coefficients even at infinite dilution for solutes with a large difference in size. These predictions are consistent with recent experimental results. The role of preferential solvation and excluded-volume interactions on the thermodynamic factors are also examined. Excluded-volume interactions are introduced through the use of the McMillan-Mayer thermodynamic framework after emphasizing some important aspects of diffusion reference frames and thermodynamic driving forces. Finally, new expressions for cross-diffusion coefficients are proposed.     

A comparison of diffusion coefficients for ternary mixed micelle solutions measured by macroscopic gradient and dynamic light scattering techniques

Taylor dispersion is used to measure ternary mutual diffusion coefficients (D(ik)) for aqueous solutions of decylsulfobetaine (SB10) (1) + dodecylsulfobetaine (SB12) (2), SB10 (1) + SB14 (2), and SB12 (1) + SB14 (2) mixed zwitterionic micelles. Cross-coefficient D(21) for the coupled flow of surfactant 1 produced by a concentration gradient in surfactant 2 is relatively small for these solutions, but D(12) reaches values as large as the main D(ii) coefficients. The results are interpreted by using the equation D(ik) = partial differential(C(i)D(i))/ partial differentialC(k) to relate the ternary mutual diffusion coefficients to the concentration-weighted average diffusion coefficients D(i) of the micellar and free-monomer forms of the surfactants. The macroscopic-gradient Taylor measurements are compared with diffusion coefficients measured by dynamic light scattering (DLS), which monitors microscopic concentration fluctuations. At most compositions, the intensity autocorrelation function G(tau) is a single exponential decay in D((2)), the smaller eigenvalue of the mutual diffusion coefficient matrix. A contribution from D((1)) is identified at high solute fractions of surfactant 1. The DLS results are consistent with contributions to G(tau) from uncoupled fluctuations in the concentrations of eigencomponents defined as the linear combinations of surfactants 1 and 2 that diagonalize the D(ik) matrix. A procedure for the rapid and convenient DLS measurement of ternary mutual diffusion coefficients, including the cross-coefficients for coupled diffusion, is suggested, using the Onsager reciprocal relation together with the eigenvalues and pre-exponential factors from G(tau).     

Stochastic simulation of the partition mechanism with a heterogeneous surface phase

A three-dimensional stochastic model of chromatography has been used to determine the effect of multiple sites on the partition mechanism. The effect of additional sites on mass transfer rates, zone profiles, and their statistical moments are investigated as a function of the partition coefficient, diffusion coefficient, and interfacial barrier to mass transfer. These studies have demonstrated that changes in the partition coefficient alone are not sufficient to alter the system response from that of a single site. Changes in the diffusion coefficient and the barrier to mass transfer do cause changes in the response compared to that of a single site. The zone profiles produced by the systems become more asymmetric as the difference between the diffusion coefficients or the barriers to mass transfer increases. The site with the slower mass transfer rate plays the dominant role in the total system response.