Molecular simulations of aqueous electrolyte solubility: 1. The expanded-ensemble osmotic molecular dynamics method for the solution phase

We have developed a molecular-level simulation technique called the expanded-ensemble osmotic molecular dynamics (EEOMD) method, for studying electrolyte solution systems. The EEOMD method performs simulations at a fixed number of solvent molecules, pressure, temperature, and overall electrolyte chemical potential. The method combines elements of constant pressure-constant temperature molecular dynamics and expanded-ensemble grand canonical Monte Carlo. The simulated electrolyte solution systems contain, in addition to solvent molecules, full and fractional ions and undissociated electrolyte molecular units. The fractional particles are coupled to the system via a coupling parameter that varies between 0 (no interaction between the fractional particle and the other particles in the system) and 1 (full interaction between the fractional particle and the other particles in the system). The time evolution of the system is governed by the constant pressure-constant temperature equations of motion and accompanied by random changes in the coupling parameter. The coupling-parameter changes are accepted with a probability derived from the expanded-ensemble osmotic partition function corresponding to the prescribed electrolyte chemical potential. The coupling-parameter changes mimic insertion/deletion of particles as in a crude grand canonical Monte Carlo simulation; if the coupling parameter becomes 0, the fractional particles disappear from the system, and as the coupling parameter reaches unity, the fractional particles become full particles. The method is demonstrated for a model of NaCl in water at ambient conditions. To test our approach, we first determine the chemical potential of NaCl in water by the thermodynamic integration technique and by the expanded-ensemble method. Then, we carry out EEOMD simulations for different specified values of the overall NaCl chemical potential and measure the concentration of ions resulting from the simulations. Both computations give consistent results, validating the EEOMD methodology.     

Glycerol revisited molecular dynamic simulations of structural,dynamical, and thermodynamic properties

We performed molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the properties of glycerol for a wide range of temperatures at standard pressure. We calculated structural (radial distribution functions and pair potential of mean force), dynamical (mean square displacement and transport properties), and thermodynamic (density, thermal expansion, and Hildebrand solubility parameter) properties of glycerol. The results of structural properties showed that the correlation between glycerol atoms weakens as temperature increases. The values of mean square displacement showed that changing temperature has a strong influence on mobility of glycerol atoms. The values of diffusion coefficient and viscosity are remarkably close to the experimental values over the whole range of temperatures studied. The simulation results provide a reasonable estimation of density with percent error of 0.40 %. The simulated values of Hildebrand solubility parameter of glycerol decrease with raising temperature because the cohesive forces weaken. To the best of our knowledge, this work for the first time calculates the potential of mean force, viscosity, and Hildebrand solubility parameter of glycerol by MD simulation.     

Modified polysaccharides for use in enhanced oil recovery applications

Aqueous solutions of a charged hydrophobically modified hydroxyethylcellulose (HM-HEC(−)) exhibit high viscosities even at low polymer concentrations (0.2 wt%), which is an interesting feature in connection with enhanced oil recovery. This polymer was synthesized for this work. Effects of temperature and addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) or hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) on the viscosity properties of a semidilute solution of HM-HEC(−) are examined. The results for the HM-HEC(−)/SDS system disclose strong interactions between HM-HEC(−) and SDS at low level of SDS addition, and this leads to a significant viscosification of the polymer-surfactant mixture. At higher surfactant concentrations the association complexes are disrupted. A strong temperature effect of the viscosity is observed at moderate levels of SDS addition, with lower values of the viscosity at elevated temperatures because of enhanced polymer chain mobility that breaks up the associations. Addition of HP-β-CD monomers to the HM-HEC(−) solution generates decoupling of associations via inclusion complex formation with the polymer hydrophobic tails and the viscosity decreases. By using temperature and addition of these co-solutes, it is demonstrated that the viscosity of the polymer solution can be tuned over a large range of viscosity values.     

One parameter friction theory models for viscosity

In this work the friction theory (f-theory) for viscosity modeling is used in conjunction with the SRK, PR and PRSV cubic equations of state in order to develop three one parameter general models for viscosity prediction. The models are considered one parameter models because they only require a characteristic critical velocity, which is a parameter normally not tabulated. The models use these rather simple cubic equations of state as a basis to obtain accurate modeling of the viscosity of fluids for wide ranges of temperature and pressure. The general models presented in this work are based on the viscosity behavior of n-alkanes from methane to n-octadecane. Although best performance is obtained for the considered n-alkanes, a good model performance is also obtained for other systems. Thus, recommended characteristic critical viscosity values for several systems are also reported in this work. However, in the case of n-alkanes, an empirical equation for the characteristic critical viscosity is provided so that no additional parameters are required. In addition, with the use of simple mixing rules, the viscosity of several binary to quaternary n-alkane mixtures can also be predicted with a satisfactory accuracy.     

Retention time and effective separation factor in series-coupled columns with different stationary phases

Basic expressions are derived for both the retention time and the effective separation factor in serially coupled GC columns. The retention time is determined by two main parameters. The first is the fractional time spent by an unretarded solute in each column which, in turn, is determined by the relative column lengths and flow velocities through each column. The second parameter is the relative mass distribution coefficient of a particular solute in each column; a variable that can be adjusted by changing the relative temperatures of the columns. The expression for the effective separation factor relates the measured separation factor for the series combination to the separation factors on the individual columns, the fractional time spent by an unretarded peak in each column, as well as the relative values of the mass distribution coefficients of a particular solute on the different columns.     

Dynamics of heat transport in CNTs based Darcy saturated flow: Modeling through fractional simulations

Nanofluids have a vital role in many industries due to their novelty of heat transfer. Various mathematical techniques are required to simulate such problems. It can seem that traditional partial differential equations are incapable of analyzing and investigating the physical behavior of flow parameters affected by memory effects. This research communicates the implementation of the most interesting analytical method namely Prabhakar fractional derivative regarding the thermal flow of Casson fluid with single and multiwall carbon-nanotubes due to an inclined plate. The water and blood are considered as base particles. slip and Newtonian heating impacts for the thermal flow are also considered. The fractional modal of leading PDE's is attained by Prabhakar fractional derivative with various limiting cases. The generalized solution for the thermal and velocity field is simulated via the Laplace transformation method. The thermal expressions are modeled via Fourier expressions. Graphs are used to illustrate the influence and behaviour of key physical and fractional characteristics. The finding is that the temperature and velocity profiles of SWCNTs are more prominent than those of MWCNTs. Changing the fractional parameter values results in a greater rise in the velocity gradient for blood-based nanofluid than for water-based nanofluid.     

Gel permeation chromatography of polyethylene: Effect of long-chain branching

The effect of long-chain branching on the size of low-density polyethylene molecules in solution is demonstrated through solution viscosity and molecular weight measurements on fractionated samples. These well-characterized fractions are analyzed by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and it is shown that the separation of the polymer molecules by this technique is sensitive to the presence of long-chain branching. By using fractions of branched polyethylene possessing differing degrees of branching, one observes that a single curve is adequate in relating elution volume to molecular weight. This calibration curve is applied in the GPC analysis of a variety of commercial low-density polyethylene resins and it is shown, by comparison with independent osmometric and gradient elution chromatographic data, that realistic values for molecular weight and molecular weight distribution are obtained. The replacement of molecular weight M by the parameter [η]M as a function of elution volume, leads to a single relationship for both linear and branched polyethylenes. This indicates that GPC separation takes place according to the hydrodynamic volumes of the polymer molecules. The comparison of data for polyethylene and polystyrene fractions suggests that this volume dependence of the separation will be observed for other polymer–solvent systems.     

Negative flow activation energy of polymer solutions

Using equations which describe the concentration dependence of the specific viscosity of polymer solutions and the temperature dependence of intrinsic viscosity and of the Huggins viscosity parameter, conditions were sought for which solution viscosity increases with temperature (flow activation energy is negative). It was found that such an effect might appear near to the θ-temperature (regardless of the θ-temperature being LCST or UCST) particularly for polymers with high molecular weight. The concentration range depends on the system being endo- or exothermal. The conclusions are in agreement with experimental results.     

Using enveloping distribution sampling to compute the free enthalpy difference between right- and left-handed helices of a β-peptide in solution

Recently, the method of enveloping distribution sampling (EDS) to efficiently obtain free enthalpy differences between different molecular systems from a single simulation has been generalized to compute free enthalpy differences between different conformations of a system [Z. X. Lin, H. Y. Liu, S. Riniker, and W. F. van Gunsteren, J. Chem. Theory Comput. 7, 3884 (2011)]. However, the efficiency of EDS in this case is hampered if the parts of the conformational space relevant to the two end states or conformations are far apart and the conformational diffusion from one state to the other is slow. This leads to slow convergence of the EDS parameter values and free enthalpy differences. In the present work, we apply the EDS methodology to a challenging case, i.e., to calculate the free enthalpy difference between a right-handed 2.7(10∕12)-helix and a left-handed 3(14)-helix of a hexa-β-peptide in solution from a single simulation. No transition between the two helices was detected in a standard EDS parameter update simulation, thus enhanced sampling techniques had to be applied, which included adiabatic decoupling (AD) of solute and solvent motions in combination with increasing the solute temperature, and lowering the shear viscosity of the solvent. AD was found to be unsuitable to enhance the sampling of the solute conformations in the EDS parameter update simulations. Lowering the solvent shear viscosity turned out to be useful during EDS parameter update simulations, i.e., it did speed up the conformational diffusion of the solute, more transitions between the two helices were observed. This came at the cost of more CPU time spent due to the shorter time step needed for simulations with the lower solvent shear viscosity. Using an improved EDS parameter update scheme, parameter convergence was five-fold enhanced. The resulting free enthalpy difference between the two helices calculated from EDS agrees well with the result obtained through direct counting from a long MD simulation, while the EDS technique significantly enhances the sampling of both helices over non-helical conformations.     

Controlling the radiation degradation of carboxymethylcellulose solution

In this study, the effects of an irradiation on the viscosity of the carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) solution were investigated, and the methods to control the degradation of the CMC caused by an irradiation were developed. The viscosity of the CMC solution was decreased with an increase in the irradiation dose, but the extent of the degradation by an irradiation was found to decrease with an increase in the CMC concentration in the solution. The dependency of the irradiation sources showed that an electron beam radiation had degraded the CMC less severely than a gamma ray radiation. An addition of vitamin C as a radical scavenger to the solution was shown to be effective in preventing the decrease of the viscosity of the solution. Also, in the case of an irradiation at −70 °C, the decrease of its viscosity was efficiently inhibited. The degradation of CMC in the solution was confirmed by the molecular weight distribution.     

Fractional viscosity dependence of relaxation rates and non-steady-state dynamics in barrierless reactions in solution

A finite decay model of barrierless electronic relaxation in solution is studied both analytically and numerically. The fractional viscosity (η) dependence of the rate (k∝η^−α with 1 > α> 0) is shown to be strongly correlated with non-steady-state dynamics on the reaction potential surface. We also find that the exponent α may depend strongly on the wavelength of the exciting light.     

Thermodynamic studies of the surface and transport properties in Ag–In and Ag–Sb liquid alloys

The surface tension, surface concentration, viscosity and mutual diffusion co-efficients of the Ag–In and Ag–Sb liquid alloys have been calculated using energetics and derivables from a statistical mechanical framework which recognises the formation of atom clusters of self associates. Our calculations suggest the existence of some form of local order in the systems. Ag–In showed higher tendencies to heterocoordination in the bulk-manifested higher values of mutual diffusion coefficient throughout the concentration range. The viscosity values of Ag–In and Ag–Sb were calculated using the expression reported by Kucharsky which relates the viscosity of a liquid binary alloy to the activity coefficients of the liquid alloy components that are raised to some power m. This exponent m is a fitted parameter. The calculated viscosity values for Ag–Sb had some reasonable agreement with experiment above 0.5 atomic fraction of Sb, using a fitted parameter value of m = 4.5. The fitted parameter value for the viscosity of Ag–In is expected to be in the range 1.5 ≤ m ≤ 3.5.     

Buoyancy-driven coalescence of spherical drops covered with incompressible surfactant at arbitrary Péclet number

Collision efficiencies are determined for two surfactant-covered spherical drops in the limits of nearly uniform surface coverage and bulk insolubility for Brownian and/or gravitational motion as a function of drop-size ratio, drop-to-medium viscosity ratio, and retardation parameter. For two equal-sized drops in Brownian motion in the limit of small viscosity ratio, the calculated collision efficiencies agree well with earlier results for bubbles. While the two-sphere relative mobility functions for motion parallel to the drops' line of centers tend to the same values in the limits of infinite viscosity ratio and infinite retardation parameter, the asymmetric mobility functions do not, because the coefficients for the rotational term in Lamb's singular solution are independent of the presence of surfactant. The complex dependence of the transverse mobility functions on the viscosity ratio and retardation parameter makes it possible for the gravitational collision efficiency to increase slightly with viscosity ratio at fixed size ratio and retardation parameter of O(10(3)) or larger. Typical hydrosols are also studied in gravitational motion at arbitrary Péclet number, showing the combined influence of Brownian and gravitational motion.     

Copolymers in dilute solution. I. Preliminary results for styrene-methyl methacrylate

The dilute solution properties of copolymers are briefly discussed in relation to those of the parent homopolymers. It is shown that copolymer molecules are usually more expanded in solution than would be expected from the averaged behavior of the pure polymers, because of repulsive interactions between the unlike monomer units. A thermodynamic parameter χAB characterizing these interactions can be derived from measurements of the dilute solution properties of copolymers. In favorable cases this parameter can be independently evaluated from studies of ternary systems composed of the two parent homopolymers and a solvent, thus allowing prediction of the behavior of the copolymer. Light scattering and viscosity measurements on fractions of approximately equimolal copolymers of styrene and methyl methacrylate are presented and analyzed. The values of χAB deduced from the results in two solvents agree satisfactorily with each other, but are somewhat larger than those earlier obtained from measurements on ternary systems.     

Function and performance of silicone copolymer (VII). Dispersing ability of hydrophile-grafted acrylic copolymers and the corresponding siloxane copolymers to fumed silica. The effect of pH

Acrylic copolymers and the corresponding siloxane copolymers grafted with cationic and nonionic hydrophiles were used as dispersants to disperse fumed silica in an aqueous solution at different pH values. The dispersing ability was evaluated by viscosity and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) methods. The results showed that the dispersing abilities are functions of the dispersant concentrations and of the pH of the system. By comparing the results of SEM and viscosity methods, it can be concluded that, under comparable conditions, a suspension with a lower viscosity is more homogenously dispersed. It was also found that at pH 2 only CHE and SHE and that at pH 7 only CHE, SHE, and SQHE showed better dispersing ability. At pH 10.5, all the dispersants in this study except CQDEA resulted in a slurry of very low viscosity of 10–20 cP with 15 wt% of silica. Basically, nonionic dispersants CHE and SHE exhibit excellent dispersing ability at different pH values. Received: 16 March 2001 Accepted: 28 June 2001     

Flow properties of freshly prepared ettringite suspensions in water at 25 degrees C

The rheology of a complex, heterogeneous mineral colloid was rationalised using models devised for model rod systems. Mixing a calcium hydroxide slurry with an aluminium sulphate solution produces a suspension of rod-shaped ettringite particles. Ettringite rod suspensions exhibit non-Newtonian flow behaviour, which depends on the shape of the particles, their size distribution, concentration and surface properties as well as the suspension medium characteristics. We have measured the shear viscosity of suspensions of ettringite rods with a median aspect ratio, r(i) approximately 8, at 25 degrees C as a function of particle volume fraction, phi, in the range 0.0001-0.08. It was found that the viscosity of the suspensions increased with phi, and showed a marked change of slope at phi approximately 0.01, which we identified as the minimum overlap concentration phi(*). Above phi(*), the system is in the semi-dilute regime. At phi>phi(*), when Pe(rot)>1, hydrodynamic interactions between rods become increasingly significant, and we observe shear-thinning behaviour. The high effective hydrodynamic volume of rotating rods, resulting in much lower values of the maximum packing fraction, phi(c), than for spheres, dominates the rheological behaviour of ettringite suspensions.     

Intermolecular potential parameters and combining rules determined from viscosity data

The law of corresponding states has been demonstrated for a number of pure substances and binary mixtures and provides evidence that the transport properties viscosity and diffusion can be determined from a molecular shape function, often taken to be a Lennard–Jones 12‐6 potential, that requires two scaling parameters: a well depth ε_ij and a collision diameter σ_ij, both of which depend on the interacting species i and j. We obtain estimates for ε_ij and σ_ij of interacting species by finding the values that provide the best fit to viscosity data for binary mixtures and compare these to calculated parameters using several “combining rules” that have been suggested for determining parameter values for binary collisions from parameter values that describe collisions of like molecules. Different combining rules give different values for σ_ij and ε_ij, and for some mixtures the differences between these values and the best‐fit parameter values are rather large. There is a curve in (ε_ij, σ_ij) space such that parameter values on the curve generate a calculated viscosity in good agreement with measurements for a pure gas or a binary mixture. The various combining rules produce couples of parameters ε_ij, σ_ij that lie close to the curve and, therefore, generate predicted mixture viscosities in satisfactory agreement with experiment. Although the combining rules were found to underpredict the viscosity in most of the cases, Kong's rule was found to work better than the others, but none of the combining rules consistently yields parameter values near the best‐fit values, suggesting that improved rules could be developed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. *

1 This article is a U.S. Government work and, as such, is in the public domain of the United States of America.

Int J Chem Kinet 42: 713–723, 2010     

Degradation of β-chitosan by solution plasma process (SPP)

In this work, the solution plasma process (SPP) is used to treat β-chitosan solutions in order to induce the degradation of chitosan. The effects of solution plasma on the properties of chitosan solutions are investigated. The treatment time was varied from 0 to 300 min. The plasma-treated chitosan was characterized by the following methods; molecular weight by GPC, viscosity, crystal structure by XRD, chemical characteristics by FT-IR, solubility by UV–vis spectrophotometer, and fractional analysis. The results showed that after treatment with plasma for 15–120 min, the viscosity of the chitosan solution and apparent molecular weight of chitosans decreased remarkably, when compared to those of untreated sample. Longer treatment times had less effect on both viscosity and molecular weight of the samples. This suggested that the degradation process of chitosan occurred during plasma treatment. The XRD analysis showed that the crystallinity of chitosan was destroyed, resulting in amorphous structure. FT-IR analysis revealed that chemical structure of chitosan was not affected by solution plasma treatment. The %yield of water-soluble chitosan was increased with increasing plasma treatment time. These results implied that solution plasma process is able to induce the degradation of chitosan solutions.     

Streaming birefringence. VII. Influence of the intermolecular hydrodynamic interaction on the viscosity and streaming birefringence of polymer solutions

The cavity model used in the theory of dielectrics was applied to hydrodynamics to calculate the force exerted by a system of soft dumbbells on a reference dumbbell in a hydrodynamic field. The influence of this force on the viscosity and flow birefringence and its dependence on both the concentration and velocity gradient were calculated. The system of equations has a real solution only for values of β = M[η]η₀γ/RT which are smaller than a critical value rapidly decreasing with increasing concentration. At zero concentration the results obtained agree with the theory of a single isolated dumbbell model. The calculated Huggins constant is k′ = 0.4. The extinction angle is connected with the relative viscosity very nearly as derived from experiments. However, the theory fails at higher concentrations and gradients yielding an increase in viscosity with the gradient and infinite zero-shear viscosity for the concentration c = 2.5/[η].