Showing papers by "Benoit Coasne published in 2012"

Thermodynamics of water confined in porous calcium-silicate-hydrates.

Abstract: Water within pores of cementitious materials plays a crucial role in the damage processes of cement pastes, particularly in the binding material comprising calcium-silicate-hydrates (C–S–H). Here, we employed Grand Canonical Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the properties of water confined at ambient temperature within and between C–S–H nanoparticles or “grains” as a function of the relative humidity (%RH). We address the effect of water on the cohesion of cement pastes by computing fluid internal pressures within and between grains as a function of %RH and intergranular separation distance, from 1 to 10 A. We found that, within a C–S–H grain and between C–S–H grains, pores are completely filled with water for %RH larger than 20%. While the cohesion of the cement paste is mainly driven by the calcium ions in the C–S–H, water facilitates a disjoining behavior inside a C–S–H grain. Between C–S–H grains, confined water diminishes or enhances the cohesion of the material depending on the intergranular d...

Freezing of water confined at the nanoscale.

Abstract: Freezing of water in hydrophilic nanopores ($D=1.2\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{nm}$) is probed at the microscopic scale using x-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and molecular simulation. A freezing scenario, which has not been observed previously, is reported; while the pore surface induces orientational order of water in contact with it, water does not crystallize at temperatures as low as 173 K. Crystallization at the surface is suppressed as the number of hydrogen bonds formed is insufficient (even when including hydrogen bonds with the surface), while crystallization in the pore center is hindered as the curvature prevents the formation of a network of tetrahedrally coordinated molecules. This sheds light on the concept of an ubiquitous unfreezable water layer by showing that the latter has a rigid (i.e., glassy) liquidlike structure, but can exhibit orientational order.

Atomistic model of micelle-templated mesoporous silicas: structural, morphological, and adsorption properties.

Abstract: The structural, morphological, and adsorption properties of MCM-41 porous silicas are investigated using a realistic numerical model obtained by means of ab initio calculations [Ugliengo, P.; et al. Adv. Mater.2008, 20, 1]. Simulated X-ray diffraction, small angle neutron scattering, and electronic microscopy for the atomistic model are in good agreement with experimental data. The morphological features are also assessed from chord length distributions and porous volume and specific geometrical surface calculations, etc. The N2, CO2, and H2O adsorption isotherms in the atomistic model of MCM-41 are also in reasonable agreement with their experimental counterpart. An important finding of the present work is that water forms a film adsorbed on specific hydrophilic regions of the surface while the rest of the surface is depleted in water molecules. This result suggests that the surface of MCM-41 materials is heterogeneous, as it is made up of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic patches. While adsorption and ir...

Enhanced H2 uptake in solvents confined in mesoporous metal-organic framework.

Abstract: Hydrogen uptake at 298 K and 30 bar in hybrid sorbents consisting of n-hexane confined in MIL-101 is found to be 22 times larger than in sole n-hexane. The enhanced solubility in MIL-101, found to be 3 times larger than in mesoporous silica of similar pore size, highlights the key roles played by surface chemistry and accessible surface area.

Solvated calcium ions in charged silica nanopores

Abstract: Hydroxyl surface density in porous silica drops down to nearly zero when the pH of the confined aqueous solution is greater than 105 To study such extreme conditions, we developed a model of slit silica nanopores where all the hydrogen atoms of the hydroxylated surface are removed and the negative charge of the resulting oxygen dangling bonds is compensated by Ca2+ counterions We employed grand canonical Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations to address how the Ca2+ counterions affect the thermodynamics, structure, and dynamics of confined water While most of the Ca2+ counterions arrange themselves according to the so-called “Stern layer,” no diffuse layer is observed The presence of Ca2+ counterions affects the pore filling for strong confinement where the surface effects are large At full loading, no significant changes are observed in the layering of the first two adsorbed water layers compared to nanopores with fully hydroxylated surfaces However, the water structure and water orientati

Experiment and Theory of Low-Pressure Nitrogen Adsorption in Organic Layers Supported or Grafted on Inorganic Adsorbents: Toward a Tool To Characterize Surfaces of Hybrid Organic/Inorganic Systems

Abstract: We report experimental nitrogen adsorption isotherms of organics-coated silicas, which exhibit a low-pressure desorption branch that does not meet the adsorption branch upon emptying of the pores. To address the physical origin of such a hysteresis loop, we propose an equilibrium thermodynamic model that enables one to explain this phenomenon. The present model assumes that, upon adsorption, a small amount of nitrogen molecules penetrate within the organic layer and reach adsorption sites that are located on the inorganic surface, between the grafted or adsorbed organic molecules. The number of accessible adsorption sites thus varies with the increasing gas pressure, and then we assume that it stays constant upon desorption. Comparison with experimental data shows that our model captures the features of nitrogen adsorption on such hybrid organic/inorganic materials. In particular, in addition to predicting the shape of the adsorption isotherm, the model is able to estimate, with a reasonable number of adj...

Inner and Subsurface Distribution of Water and Ions in Weakly and Highly Hydrophilic Uncharged Nanoporous Materials: A Molecular Dynamics Study of a Confined NaI Electrolyte Solution

Abstract: The distribution of water and ions in nanoporous membranes, in particular close to their surfaces with external reservoirs, is investigated by means of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using classical polarizable force fields. A sodium iodide (NaI) aqueous solution is considered in uncharged weakly hydrophilic (WH) and highly hydrophilic (HH) nanoporous materials modeled by a single truncated nanopore in contact with two reservoirs. In the inner part of the nanopore, the spatial distribution of water and ions is obtained by coupling semi-infinitesimal longitudinal and semi-infinitesimal radial descriptions. In the HH material, in contrast with the WH material, species are no longer uniformly distributed in the inner nanopore and water molecules are distributed in a nearly frozen axially periodic corona-like structure which leads to the formation of ionic tunnels. In the reservoirs, water molecules and ions attracted by the membrane surface create a necking of the confined solution which acts as a barrier at the entrance of the nanopore. In the WH nanopore subsurface, close to the surface of the membrane, the species distribution is analogous to the interface distribution between an aqueous electrolyte solution and air. In the HH nanopore subsurface, this distribution is modulated by the water corona-like structure. These results provide useful information for predicting properties of nanoporous membranes, in particular the drastic reduction of diffusion coefficients in HH materials, and give a guide to designing synthetic membranes for applications in nanofiltration, etc.