Molecular dynamics simulations on the adsorption and surface phenomena of simple fluid in porous media

Equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations have been used to investigate the fluid adsorption phenomena and calculate the surface tension in porous media at different temperatures, densities and pore widths. The facts that most of the fluid particles are adsorbed adherent to the pore walls and the surface forms near the walls have been found, and that the surface is not stable which means there exists an oscillation phenomenon in pores have been also found. The surface tension in pores is much bigger than that in macrovolume systems like normal liquid–liquid and liquid–vapor interfaces, and it will increase with the increase of density and pore width, but will decrease with the increase of temperature.     

The possibility of different time scales in the dynamics of pore imbibition

To model the imbibition of liquids into porous solids, use is often made of the Lucas-Washburn equation, which relates the distance of penetration of a liquid at a given time to the pore radius, the viscosity and surface tension of the liquid, and the effective contact angle between the liquid and the solid. In this paper, we extend previous large-scale molecular dynamics simulations to show how this tool can be used to study the details of liquid imbibition, including the impact of the contact angle on the dynamics of penetration and the evolution of the internal flow field. In particular, we show that the asymptotic behavior of the contact angle versus time for a completely wetting liquid is given by approximately t(-1/4).     

Wetting Study of Hydrophobic Membranes via Liquid Entry Pressure Measurements with Aqueous Alcohol Solutions

A new concept of liquid entry pressure measurements is applied to study the hydrophobicity of microporous membranes for aqueous alcohol solutions. The effects of alcohol concentration, type of alcohol, and temperature on liquid entry pressure of the membrane have been studied. Two theoretical equations for the determination of membrane pore size have been proposed. The former equation was developed taking into account the deviation from the Laplace–Young equation due to the membrane structure by means of the structure angle. The latter equation was established considering only the range of alcohol concentration in which the dispersion component of liquid surface tension remains practically constant. Hydrophobicity has been expressed in terms of wetting surface tension, γ_L^w. Based on these measurements, the maximum concentration before the spontaneous wetting occurs would be predicted.     

Dynamics of vesicle self-assembly and dissolution

The dynamics of membranes is studied on the basis of a particle-based meshless surface model, which was introduced earlier [Phys. Rev. E 73, 021903 (2006)]. The model describes fluid membranes with bending energy and-in the case of membranes with boundaries-line tension. The effects of hydrodynamic interactions are investigated by comparing Brownian dynamics with a particle-based mesoscale solvent simulation (multiparticle collision dynamics). Particles self-assemble into vesicles via disk-shaped membrane patches. The time evolution of assembly is found to consist of three steps: particle assembly into discoidal clusters, aggregation of clusters into larger membrane patches, and finally vesicle formation. The time dependence of the cluster distribution and the mean cluster size is evaluated and compared with the predictions of Smoluchowski rate equations. On the other hand, when the line tension is suddenly decreased (or the temperature is increased), vesicles dissolve via pore formation in the membrane. Hydrodynamic interactions are found to speed up the dynamics in both cases. Furthermore, hydrodynamics makes vesicle more spherical in the membrane-closure process.     

Some observations on the stability of supported liquid membranes

Stabilities of two types of supported liquid membrane (SLM), hollow fiber and flat sheet, have been studied in terms of the leakage of water across the membrane by using various kinds of polymeric solid supports and organic solvents. From lifetime data as a relative measure of SLM stability, it was found that the pore size of the support has the most significant effect on the stability. More stable membranes can be attained by use of membrane solvents with higher interfacial tension, and therefore of aliphatic hydrocarbons of higher boiling point; aromatics show a trend to be simply washed or forced sout of the SLM. In practical SLM separations, a membrane solution containing a surface-active carrier reduces the stability of the SLM by lowering the solvent-water interfacial tension. Membrane liquids held within the pores of a polymeric solid with lower surface energy may be more sensitive to variation of the interfacial tension.     

Pore nucleation in mechanically stretched bilayer membranes

We report a computer-simulation study of the free-energy barrier for the nucleation of pores in the bilayer membrane under constant stretching lateral pressure. We find that incipient pores are hydrophobic but as the lateral size of the pore nucleus becomes comparable with the molecular length, the pore becomes hydrophilic. In agreement with previous investigations, we find that the dynamical process of growth and closure of hydrophilic pores is controlled by the competition between the surface tension of the membrane and the line tension associated with the rim of the pore. We estimate the line tension of a hydrophilic pore from the shape of the computed free-energy barriers. The line tension thus computed is in a good agreement with available experimental data. We also estimate the line tension of hydrophobic pores at both macroscopic and microscopic levels. The comparison of line tensions at these two different levels indicates that the "microscopic" line tension should be carefully distinguished from the "macroscopic" effective line tension used in the theoretical analysis of pore nucleation. The overall shape of the free-energy barrier for pore nucleation shows no indication for the existence of a metastable intermediate during pore nucleation.     

Effect of electric field on liquid infiltration into hydrophobic nanopores

Understanding the variation of nanofluidic behavior in the presence of an external electric field is critical for controlling and designing nanofluidic devices. By studying the critical infiltration pressure of liquids into hydrophobic nanopores using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and experiments, important insights can be gained on the variation of the effective liquid-solid interfacial tension with the magnitude and sign of electric field, as well as its coupling with the pore size and the solid and liquid species. It is found that the effective hydrophobicity reduces with the increase of electric intensity and/or pore size, and the behavior is asymmetric with respect to the direction of the electric field. The underlying molecular mechanisms are revealed via the study of the density profile, contact angle, and surface tension of confined liquid molecules.     

Pore formation in fluctuating membranes

We study the nucleation of a single pore in a fluctuating lipid membrane, specifically taking into account the membrane fluctuations, as well as the shape fluctuations of the pore. For large enough pores, the nucleation free energy is well-described by shifts in the effective membrane surface tension and the pore line tension. Using our framework, we derive the stability criteria for the various pore formation regimes. In addition to the well-known large-tension regime from the classical nucleation theory of pores, we also find a low-tension regime in which the effective line and surface tensions can change sign from their bare values. The latter scenario takes place at sufficiently high temperatures, where the opening of a stable pore of finite size is entropically favorable.     

耗散粒子动力学研究双层膜线张力与抗弯刚度的关系

利用耗散力粒子动力学模拟方法研究了拉伸状态下双层膜的抗弯刚度与膜孔线张力之间的关系.通过对双层膜在不同投影面积约束下的系统模拟,观察到3个区域:自由振动膜、伸展膜和穿孔膜.由前两个区域的应力张量计算得到的膜的面张力(σΣ)与拟合膜波动性质得到的面张力(σfluc)吻合的很好,除去在两区域的转变点附近σfluc略大于σΣ.当考虑在经典Helfrich弹性膜模型中被忽略的膜厚度时,线张力可以和抗弯刚度用一个简单的模型联系起来.通过对穿孔膜区域的数据进行分析,证明由本模型得到的抗弯刚度与拟合膜波动性质得到的抗弯刚度符合的很好.由此提出一种简便的测量方法,通过计算拉伸膜孔的面张力和统计膜厚度,拟合这个简单模型来测量膜的抗弯刚度.     

Determination of pore size distribution in hollow fibre membranes

Isopropanol displacement under nitrogen pressure was used for the determination of pore size distribution in microfiltration polypropylene hollow fibres. Applying various assumptions about gas transport process two completely different characteristics of pore sizes were obtained. To verify these results an analysis of SEM images of the investigated membrane was conducted concerning its porous structure (pore diameters, surface occupied by pores). According to the SEM analysis the mean coverage of membrane surface by pore entrances should be about 20% of total area. For the distribution which accounted for pore evacuation according to Young–Laplace equation with contact angle θ=67° surprisingly dense coverage amounting to over 70% of total surface (by calculated total pore number over 10¹³ per m²) was predicted. Results for the distribution which accounted for gas bubble formation at the membrane surface (equivalent to θ=0°) fit into the expected range of pore numbers and membrane coverages (about 10¹¹ per m² and about 10%, respectively). It is concluded that the mechanism of bubble formation, determined by an actual pressure, liquid surface tension and pore size, is the crucial process while the value of contact angle θ does not play any role in the determination of pore size distribution.     

Spontaneous Penetration of Liquids into Capillaries and Porous Membranes Revisited

A critical review of the problem of spontaneous penetration of a wetting liquid into pore channels shows that no theory exists to quantitatively predict the initial stage of imbibition. Since C. H. Bosanquet (1923, Phil. Mag. 45, 525), the theory operates with an universal velocity U(Bosanquet)=(2gammacosstraight thetarhor(1/2), with gamma being the surface tension, straight theta the contact angle, r the capillary/pore radius, and rho the fluid density. It is assumed that the initial impulse of the liquid entering the pore is insignificant for the penetration dynamics. Though the importance of the outside flow pattern has been noted in many papers, a thorough mathematical analysis of this effect is lacking in the literature. We derived a generalized equation of the fluid front motion by averaging the Euler equations of flow inside and outside the pore space. This analysis shows the significance of the flow patterns at the pore entrance. The initial stage of liquid imbibition is studied in the inviscid approximation using the methods of dynamic systems. The phase portrait of the dynamic system reveals a multiplicity of penetration regimes. Remarkably, the Bosanquet solution represents a particular regime, with the apparent mass being set zero. The Bosanquet trajectory refers to a separatrix of the phase portrait. It is shown that the initial conditions affect the rate of uptake significantly. The initial conditions stem from the prehistory of the fluid motion outside the pores prior to the liquid-solid contact. The phase portrait method allows us to distinguish two groups of solutions for the capillary rise dynamics of an inviscid fluid. The first group of trajectories corresponds to the liquid front rebound; the second group includes cyclic trajectories which correspond to the periodic regimes with liquid front oscillations at the equilibrium position. The upper estimate of the oscillation amplitude is found. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.     

Solvent-induced morphological change of microporous hollow fiber membranes

Microporous polyethylene hollow fiber membranes (EHF-1 and EHF-2) were subjected to solvent treatment, and the effects of this treatment on membrane morphology and permeating properties were studied. Membranes treated with various organic solvents exhibited enhanced permeability, enlarged pore size, and increased shrinkage in the longitudinal direction. These phenomena were found to depend on the surface tension of the solvent: the higher the surface tension of the solvent, the larger the change in morphology and permeation of the membrane. A mechanism to account for the effects of solvent treatment on the morphology of the membrane is proposed taking into consideration the influence of the type of solvent used for treatment. The enhanced morphological and permeation changes are ascribed to the formation of liquid bridges between two microfibrils of the membrane during drying followed by the deformation and adhesion of the adjacent microfibrils based on the surface tension of the solvent.     

Validity of the Kelvin equation in estimation of small pore size by nitrogen adsorption

 We have investigated a practical lower limit of a pore-size estimation by the nitrogen desorption isotherms at 77 K using the Kelvin equation. Changes in pore size of porous silica glasses before and after the monolayer preadsorption of n-propylalcohol were estimated by measuring the nitrogen adsorption and desorption isotherms. These changes should correspond to the thickness of monolayer of adsorbed n-propylalcohol. The thickness of monolayers obtained for the samples whose pore sizes are below ca. 2 nm were underestimated, when the Kelvin equation was applied to the nitrogen desorption isotherms using the values of surface tension and molar volume of bulk liquid nitrogen at 77 K. Below ca. 2 nm pore radius a careful application of the Kelvin equation is required to estimate a pore size. These results suggest that a change in the physical properties of liquid nitrogen in such a small pore occurs. It is supposed that the interaction between the solid surface and adsorbate molecules causes the changes in the surface tension and density of liquid nitrogen in such a narrow pore. Received: 21 March 1997 Accepted: 18 July 1997     

Molecular simulation of adsorption and intrusion in nanopores

This paper reports Monte Carlo simulations of the adsorption or intrusion in cylindrical silica nanopores. All the pores are opened at both ends towards an external bulk reservoir, so that they mimic real materials for which the confined fluid is always in contact with the external phase. This realistic model allows us to discuss the nature of the filling and emptying mechanisms. The adsorption corresponds to the metastable nucleation of the liquid phase, starting from a partially filled pore (a molecular thick film adsorbed at the pore surface). On the other hand, the desorption occurs through the displacement at equilibrium of a gas/liquid hemispherical interface (concave meniscus) along the pore axis. The intrusion of the non-wetting fluid proceeds through the invasion in the pore of the liquid/gas interface (convex meniscus), while the extrusion consists of the nucleation of the gas phase within the pore. In the case of adsorption, our simulation data are used to discuss the validity of the modified Kelvin equation (which is corrected for both the film adsorbed at the pore surface and the curvature effect on the gas/liquid surface tension).     

耗散粒子动力学模拟Nafion-[Bmim][TfO]离子液体复合膜的介观结构

采用耗散粒子动力学方法模拟研究了离子液体的含量和温度对Nafion-[Bmim][TfO]离子液体复合膜的介观结构的影响。模拟发现了微相分离现象。对不同条件下的微相分离形成的孔径分析表明,随着离子液体在复合膜中含量的增加,离子液体在膜中的聚集状态由分散的团簇转变为连续的通道,但过高的含量会产生腔室结构。随着温度的上升,离子液体通道的结构变得更加复杂,原有的腔室结构转化为通道的新支路,即高温下离子液体通道变得更加连通。界面分布几率和径向分布函数的计算结果表明,离子液体的阳离子烷基链嵌进Nafion主链中,侧链磺酸基团分布的变化直接影响咪唑基团和阴离子在微相界面的分布。本工作在介观水平上探索了Nafion-离子液体复合膜结构,可为开发高温聚电解质燃料电池材料提供一定的参考。     

1-正辛基-3-甲基咪唑六氟磷酸盐离子液体对聚砜分离膜的结构控制及其作用机理

以1-正辛基-3-甲基咪唑六氟磷酸盐[C8mim][PF6]作为膜结构控制剂,采用相转化法制备具有不同孔结构的聚砜分离膜.随着[C8mim][PF6]含量的增大,聚砜膜的孔结构从典型的不对称指状孔结构、高度拉长的大孔结构、典型的大空穴,变化至海绵状孔结构,离子液体[C8mim][PF6]在聚砜膜制备中表现出孔结构控制、增塑作用.通过能谱分析表明,[C8mim][PF6]在所制备的聚砜膜中存在部分的保留,通过水与聚砜膜表面接触角的测定,[C8mim][PF6]在聚砜膜中的残留提高了膜的亲水性能.基于相分离过程的基本理论,探讨了疏水性[C8mim][PF6]在铸膜液相分离过程中孔结构形成的作用机理.研究表明,[C8mim][PF6]在铸膜液中含量越高,对于相分离的延时效应越大,体系更易发生延时分相.     

Investigation of entrance and exit effects on liquid transport through a cylindrical nanopore

The entrance and exit effects on liquid transport through a nano-sized cylindrical pore under different solid wall-liquid interactions were studied by comparing molecular dynamics (MD) results of a finite length nanopore in a membrane with those of an infinite length one. The liquid transport through a finite length nanopore in a membrane was carried out by using a pressure-driven non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) method proposed by Huang et al. [C. Huang, K. Nandakumar, P. Choi and L. W. Kostiuk, J. Chem. Phys., 2006, 124, 234701]. The fluid motion through an infinite length nanopore, which had the same cross-stream dimension as the finite length channel in the membrane, but with periodic boundary conditions in the stream-wise direction, was carried out by using the external-field driven NEMD approach [J. Koplik, J. R. Bavanar and J. F. Willemsen, Phys. Rev. Lett., 1988, 60, 1282]. The NEMD results show that the pressure and density distributions averaged over the channel in the radial direction in both finite and infinite length channels are similar, but the radial distributions of the stream-wise velocity were significantly different when the solid wall was repulsive. The entrance and exit effects lead to a decrease in flow rate at about 39% for the repulsive wall and 6% for the neutral-like wall.     

Liquid-liquid phase separation of binary Lennard-Jones fluid in slit nanopores

The capillary phase separation of a binary mixture of two truncated and shifted Lennard-Jones (LJ) Ar liquids in slit-shaped oxygen nanopores is examined. The LJ parameters—ε(Ar(A)–Ar(A))=ε(Ar(B)–Ar(B))=0.8ε(Ar(A)–Ar(B)) and 0.5ε(Ar(A)–O)?=?ε(Ar(B)–O)—were used to distinguish the two Ar liquids. The cut off distance for Ar was 3.5σ. We employed a molecular dynamics (MD) technique in which a pore space was connected with a bulk solution to easily determine the equilibrium bulk concentration. Liquid phase isotherms were obtained for pores with widths ranging from 5.5σ to 9.5σ, and the relation between the pore width and the phase separation concentration was determined. Each simulation was run until the bulk concentration attained equilibrium (1–2 μs). The MD results show that the Patrick model overestimates the bulk concentration for a given pore size. We proposed a modified Patrick model in which the pore wall potential is considered. In our model, the Gibbs-Tolman-Koenig-Buff effect is not considered for the interfacial tension since two surfaces of tension exist on both sides of the equimolar dividing surface of the two-Ar liquid phase. The two surfaces of tension neutralized Gibbs-Tolman-Koenig-Buff effect each other. The present simple model successfully describes the relation to prove its reliability.     

Turbulent flow technique for the estimation of oxygen diffusive permeability of membranes for the oxygenation of blood and other cell suspensions

When transport-efficient membrane modules (such as those where the liquid flows outside hollow fibre membranes) or membranes with prolonged resistance to wetting are used for the oxygenation of blood or other cell suspensions, membrane contribution to the overall oxygen transfer resistance into the liquid may become significant. Thus, estimation of membrane diffusive permeability towards relevant gases (e.g., oxygen) is important to develop new membranes and to ensure reproducible commercial membrane performance.

In this paper, we report on a turbulent flow technique for the estimation of the oxygen diffusive permeability of membranes used in outside-flow oxygenators. Water is re-circulated under turbulent flow conditions in a closed-loop from a reservoir to the shell of lab-scale membrane modules. The overall oxygen transfer to water coefficient is estimated at increasing water flow rates from the time the change of dissolved oxygen tension in the stream leaving the water reservoir occurs. Oxygen diffusive permeability is estimated as the reciprocal overall transfer resistance at infinitely high water flow rates, for negligible gas-side oxygen transport resistance. The technique was used to estimate oxygen diffusive permeability of commercial Oxyphan^® polypropylene membranes for blood oxygenation and of two laboratory polypropylene membranes, the one featuring a microporous wall structure with smaller-than-standard pore size, the other featuring an outer thin, dense layer supported by a thick spongy layer. The turbulent flow technique yields oxygen diffusive permeability estimates consistent both with membrane hydraulic permeability towards gaseous nitrogen, membrane wall structure, and with values in literature obtained using a liquid reactive with oxygen, but without the complications associated with reaction and physical transport kinetic characterisation. We conclude that the turbulent flow technique is a useful tool in the development and quality control of membranes for the oxygenation of blood and other cell suspensions.     

Antimicrobial peptides in action

Molecular dynamics simulations of the magainin MG-H2 peptide interacting with a model phospholipid membrane have been used to investigate the mechanism by which antimicrobial peptides act. Multiple copies of the peptide were randomly placed in solution close to the membrane. The peptide readily bound to the membrane, and above a certain concentration, the peptide was observed to cooperatively induce the formation of a nanometer-sized, toroidally shaped pore in the bilayer. In sharp contrast with the commonly accepted model of a toroidal pore, only one peptide was typically found near the center of the pore. The remaining peptides lay close to the edge of the pore, maintaining a predominantly parallel orientation with respect to the membrane.