Wetting and non-wetting fluids in surface-functionalised activated carbons

Pore filling by non-polar and polar molecules is investigated by small-angle X-ray scattering in activated carbons that had been surface-functionalised to different degrees by oxidation. A pseudo-binary model for the scattering response is used to trace the filling characteristics of water and n-hexane in the pore structure. While the pores are uniformly filled by n-hexane, pore filling by water is only partial. In the latter case, a significant contribution from liquid–vapour interfaces appears and the system becomes fully ternary. This feature is direct evidence of the development of water droplets, which form even in the most oxidised carbon. The appreciable differences between the carbons illustrate the influence on the small-angle X-ray scattering response of surface chemistry and of the polarity of the adsorbed molecules.     

RMC_POT: A computer code for reverse monte carlo modeling the structure of disordered systems containing molecules of arbitrary complexity

An approach has been devised and tested for preserving the molecular dynamics molecular geometry taking into account energetic considerations during Reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) modeling. Instead of the commonly used fixed neighbor constraints, where molecules are held together by constraining distance ranges available for the specified atom pairs, here molecules are kept together via bond, angle, and dihedral potential energies. The scaled total potential energy contributes to the measure of the goodness‐of‐fit, thus, the atoms can be prevented from drifting apart. In some of the calculations (Lennard‐Jones and Coulombic) nonbonding potentials were also applied. The algorithm was successfully tested for the X‐ray structure factor‐based structure study of liquid dimethyl trisulfide, for which material now significantly more sensible results have been obtained than during previous attempts via any earlier version of RMC modeling. It is envisaged that structural modeling of a large class of materials, primarily liquids and amorphous solids containing molecules of up to about 100 atoms, will make use of the new code in the near future. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Cyclodextrin assisted nanophase determination of alkaloid salts

The poor water solubility of the free base and the high dissociation constant (K_a) hinder mainly the assay of alkaloid salts. We have elaborated an enviroment friendly method that can be carried out in aqueous media. The stability difference of the cyclodextrin (CD) complexes of free and protonated bases were used for this purpose. The base is included into the hydrophobic cavity of the CD (which serves as an apolar solvent phase on molecular level) and its solubility in water is increased. Since the base forms more stable inclusion complex than its protonated species, the pK_a is decreased and the potentiometric titration is promoted by this way, too. Six different hydrohalide alkaloid salts have been investigated and the most appropriate CDs were chosen (depending on the size of the molecules and/or substituents). The results of the assays agree well with those obtained by the direct nonaqueous titrations. The stability constants of the inclusion complexes have been also computed.