Vapour-liquid phase equilibria and interfacial properties of fatty acid methyl esters from molecular dynamics simulations.

We have determined the phase equilibria and interfacial properties of a methyl ester homologous series (from methyl acetate to methyl heptanoate) using direct simulations of the vapour-liquid interfaces. The methyl esters are modelled using the united atom approach in combination with transferable parameters for phase equilibria (TraPPE) force fields for alkanes, alkenes, carbon dioxide, ethers, and carboxylic acids in a transferable way. This allows us to take into account explicitly both dispersive and coulombic interactions, as well as the repulsive Pauli-exclusion interactions. Simulations are performed in the NVT or canonical ensemble using molecular dynamics. Vapour-liquid surface tension is determined using the virial route, i.e., evaluating the normal and tangential components of the pressure tensor along the simulation box. We have also calculated density profiles, coexistence densities, vapour pressures, surface entropies and enthalpies, and interfacial thickness as functions of temperature, as well as the normal boiling temperatures and the critical temperatures, densities, and pressures for each member of the series. Special attention is paid to the comparison between experimental data taken from the literature and our results obtained using molecular dynamics simulations. We also analyze the effect of increasing the molecular weight of the methyl esters (at fixed temperature) on all the properties considered, with special emphasis on phase equilibria envelopes and surface tension. The TraPPE force fields transferred from other molecules and chemical families are able to predict very accurately the experimental vapour-liquid phase envelopes of methyl esters. We also compare the results obtained from simulations of the surface tension, with experimental data taken from the literature. To our knowledge, this is the first time that vapour-liquid phase equilibria and interfacial properties, and particularly surface tension, of this methyl ester homologous series are obtained using computer simulation.

Molecular modelling techniques for predicting liquid-liquid interfacial properties of methanol plus alkane (n-hexane, n-heptane, n-octane) mixtures.

In this work, the liquid-liquid interfacial properties of methanol plus n-alkane (n-hexane, n-heptane, n-octane) mixtures are investigated at atmospheric pressure by two complementary molecular modelling techniques; namely, molecular dynamic simulations (MD) and density gradient theory (DGT) coupled with the PC-SAFT (perturbed-chain statistical associating fluid theory) equation of state. Furthermore, two molecular models of methanol are used, which are based on a non-polarisable three site approach. On the one hand, is the original (flexible) TraPPE-UA model force field. On the other hand, is the rigid approximation denoted as OPLS/2016. In both cases, n-alkanes are modelled using the TraPPE-UA model. Simulations are performed using the direct coexistence technique in the ensemble. Special attention is paid to the comparison between the estimations obtained from different methanol models, the available experimental data and theoretical calculations. In all cases, the rigid model is capable of predicting the experimental phase equilibrium and interfacial properties accurately. Unsurprisingly, the methanol-rich density and interfacial tension are overestimated using the TraPPE model combined with Lorentz-Berthelot mixing rules for predicting the mixture behaviour. Accurate comparison between MD and DGT plus PC-SAFT requires consideration of the cross-interactions between individual influence parameters and fitting the ßij values. This latter aspect is particularly important because it allows the exploitation of the link between the EOS model and the direct molecular simulation of the corresponding fluid. At the same time, it was demonstrated that the key property defining the interfacial tension value is the absolute concentration of methanol in the methanol-rich phase. This behaviour indicates that there are more hydrogens bonded with each other, and they interact favourably with an increasing number of carbon atoms in the alkane.

Adsorption of water, methanol, and their mixtures in slit graphite pores.

The behavior of water, methanol, and water-methanol mixtures confined in narrow slit graphite pores as a function of pore size was investigated by Monte Carlo, hybrid Monte Carlo, and Molecular Dynamics simulations. Interactions were described using TIP4P/2005 for water, OPLS/2016 for methanol, and cross interactions fitted to excess water/methanol properties over the whole range of concentrations, which provide a rather accurate description of water-methanol mixtures. As expected for hydrophobic pores, whereas pure methanol is adsorbed already from the gas phase, pure water only enters the pore at pressures well beyond bulk saturation for all pore sizes considered. When adsorbed from a mixture, however, water adsorbs at much lower pressures due to the formation of hydrogen bonds with previously adsorbed methanol molecules. For all studied compositions and pore sizes, methanol adsorbs preferentially over water at liquid-vapor equilibrium conditions. In pure components, both water and methanol are microscopically structured in layers, the number of layers increasing with pore size. This is also the case in adsorbed mixtures, in which methanol has a higher affinity for the walls. This becomes more evident as the pore widens. Diffusion of pure water is higher than that of pure methanol for all pore sizes due to the larger size of the methyl group. In mixtures, both components present similar diffusivities at all pore sizes, which is explained in terms of the coupling of molecular movements due to strong hydrogen bonding between methanol and water molecules. This is particularly evident in very narrow pores, in which pure methanol diffusion is completely impeded on the time scale of our simulations, but the presence of a small amount of water molecules facilitates alcohol diffusion following a single-file mechanism. Additionally, our results indicate that pure water diffusivities display a non-monotonous dependence of pore size, due to effects of confinement (proximity to a fluid-solid-fluid transition induced by confinement as reported in previous work) and the dynamic anomalies of water.

Study of Short-Chain Alcohol and Alcohol-Water Adsorption in MEL and MFI Zeolites.

In this paper, we present a comparative study of the adsorption behavior of short chain alcohols (pure and in aqueous solution) into silicalite-1 (MFI-type zeolite) and silicalite-2 (MEL-type zeolite). For quite some time, silicalite-1 has been the reference material to address the problem of adsorptive-based separation, mostly for hydrocarbon mixtures. Interestingly, being structurally close to silicalite-1, adsorption studies using silicalite-2 are scarce and to the best of our knowledge, a comparative study of their behavior for alcohol-water mixtures has not been published to date. We have here resorted to molecular simulation techniques to analyze the adsorption and diffusion phenomena in both zeolites at 25 and 50 °C for pure methanol, ethanol, 1-butanol, and water, and for some relevant compositions of alcohol/water mixtures. In addition to the dilute regime in the mixture, our study ranges from intermediate alcohol concentrations to alcohol-rich phases, relevant to alcohol purification processes. Besides, we have performed volumetric and calorimetric measurements of single-component adsorption of alcohols in pure silica MEL zeolite, which were used to validate the model potentials used in the simulations. We observe that the zigzag channels of MFI zeolite are most likely responsible for its somewhat higher affinity for alcohols. This leads to higher adsorption selectivities when compared to those of MEL zeolite. We have also found that the choice of water model strongly conditions water coadsorption into the zeolites and subsequently the predictions of the adsorbent's selectivity in alcohol/water systems. Despite considerable differences for adsorbed pure components, diffusivities of alcohol and water adsorbed from mixtures are relatively similar, as a consequence of the strong hydrogen bonds between hydroxyl groups and water.

Cadmium-BINOL Metal-Organic Framework for the Separation of Alcohol Isomers.

The large-scale isolation of specific isomers of amyl alcohols for applications in the chemical, pharmaceutical, and biochemical industries represents a challenging task due to the physicochemical similarities of these structural isomers. The homochiral metal-organic framework cadmium-BINOL (BINOL=1,1'-bi-2-naphthol) is suitable for the separation of pentanol isomers, combining adsorption selectivities above 5 with adsorption capacities of around 4.5 mol kg-1 . Additionally, a slight ability for separation of racemic mixtures of 2-pentanol is also detected. This behavior is explained based on matching shapes, strength of host-guest interactions, and on the network of hydrogen bonds. The last of these explains both the relative success and shortfalls of prediction methods at high loadings (ideal adsorbed solution theory) or at low coverage (separation factors), which are therefore useful here at a qualitative level, but not accurate in quantitative terms. Finally, the high selectivity of cadmium-BINOL for 1-pentanol over its isomers offers prospects for practical applications and some room for optimizing conditions.

Highly Selective Zeolite Topologies for Flue Gas Separation.

The separation of carbon dioxide from flue gas is essential for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. In adsorptive methods, the challenge lies in the choice of suitable porous materials. Among all zeolite topologies, a number of adsorbents with pore dimensions in the range of the guest molecules were identified to allow an excellent separation by diffusion, and MRE and AFO zeolite topologies appear to be the best candidates based on equilibrium adsorption. Also, it was found that the behavior of this gas mixture in DFT and APD zeolites differed from the normal behavior.

Aqueous Solutions of Ionic Liquids: Microscopic Assembly.

Aqueous solutions of ionic liquids are of special interest, due to the distinctive properties of ionic liquids, in particular, their amphiphilic character. A better understanding of the structure-property relationships of such systems is hence desirable. One of the crucial molecular-level interactions that influences the macroscopic behavior is hydrogen bonding. In this work, we conduct molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the effects of ionic liquids on the hydrogen-bond network of water in dilute aqueous solutions of ionic liquids with various combinations of cations and anions. Calculations are performed for imidazolium-based cations with alkyl chains of different lengths and for a variety of anions, namely, [Br](-), [NO3](-), [SCN](-) [BF4](-), [PF6](-), and [Tf2N](-). The structure of water and the water-ionic liquid interactions involved in the formation of a heterogeneous network are analyzed by using radial distribution functions and hydrogen-bond statistics. To this end, we employ the geometric criterion of the hydrogen-bond definition and it is shown that the structure of water is sensitive to the amount of ionic liquid and to the anion type. In particular, [SCN](-) and [Tf2N](-) were found to be the most hydrophilic and hydrophobic anions, respectively. Conversely, the cation chain length did not influence the results.

Improving the measurement of nitrogen stable isotopes in organic materials containing high C:N ratios using a 5A molecular sieve column.

The nitrogen stable isotope composition (δ15N) of plant materials has numerous applications. Plant materials like bark can have a very high C:N ratio. Incomplete C combustion in such samples interferes with the δ15N measurement due to CO production. We modified the standard setup for δ15N measurement using an elemental analyzer (EA) coupled to an isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS) by incorporating a 5A molecular sieve column, which better separates N2 from CO. We compared this new modified setup and the standard one for the measurement of bark samples. Precision and accuracy for δ15N in standards with low C:N ratio were equivalent for the two methods. However, for bark the results obtained with the new method had better precision and accuracy than the standard method. Replicates are nevertheless recommended with the new method to ensure confidence in the results.•During elemental analysis, incomplete combustion of material with high C:N ratio can lead to CO formation, which interferes with δ15N IRMS measurements.•Here we use a 5A molsieve column to remove the CO interference in δ15N measurements Precision and accuracy on δ15N measurements of samples with high C content are significantly improved.

Getting help early: An online mental health self-assessment tool for young people.

BACKGROUND: Online self-assessments are becoming more popular. They can serve as a screening tool for specific conditions or assess mental health more broadly but often lack in depth evaluation. METHODS: This study presents preliminary data from an online self-assessment tool for young people within the age range of 12-30 years (Link: redcap.hmri.org.au/surveys/?s = MK7RCELJ79). It covers key symptoms of mood and psychotic disorders and risk factors, such as eating issues, substance use, suicidality, and deliberate self-harming behaviours. Participants self-assessed their level of functioning, access to ongoing interventions, and satisfaction with the help received. Based on the severity of mental health problems and the level of risk, different recommendations of how to seek help were provided. RESULTS: Out of 303, 114 participants gave permission to analyse their data. A high-risk profile was defined by anxiety symptoms, panic attacks, suicidal ideation, and urges to self-harm. These individuals were more likely to report psychotic or depression symptoms, recreational substance use and low day-to-day functioning. Ongoing treatment and the satisfaction with it were not determined by the severity of symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary results suggest that the online self-assessment tool reaches the intended young audience, particularly those with some degree of mental health problems.

Online self-assessments are becoming more popular particularly with young people. They can serve as a screening tool to assess mental health. We developed a new online self-assessment tool for young people 12 to 30 years of age (Link: redcap.hmri.org.au/surveys/?s=MK7RCELJ79). It covers key symptoms of mood and psychotic disorders and risk factors, such as eating issues, substance use, suicidality, and deliberate self-harming behaviours. The tool also asks for a self-assessment of their level of functioning, their access to professional help, and their satisfaction with the help received. The assessment concludes with recommendations how to seek help dependent on the severity of their mental health problems and level of risk. We had 303 young people visiting the tool and 114 gave permission to analyse their data. Young people with anxiety symptoms, panic attacks, suicidal ideation, and urges to self-harm were considered at high risk. They more likely to report psychotic or depression symptoms and recreational substance use and low day-to-day functioning. Ongoing treatment and the satisfaction with it were not determined by the severity of mental health problems. These preliminary results suggest that the online self-assessment tool reaches the intended young audience, particularly those with mental health problems.

Pre-attentive and Attentive Auditory Event-related Potentials in Children With Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Autism.

Abnormalities in auditory processing are believed to play a major role in autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Both conditions often co-occur in children, causing difficulties in deciding the most promising intervention. Event-related potentials (ERPs) have been investigated and are showing promise to act as potential biomarkers for both conditions. This study investigated mismatch negativity (MMN) using a passive listening task and P3b in an active auditory go/no-go discrimination task. Recordings were available from 103 children (24 females): 35 with ADHD, 27 autistic, 15 autistic children with co-occurring ADHD, and 26 neurotypical (NT) children. The age range considered was between 4 and 17 years, but varied between groups. The results revealed increases in the MMN and P3b amplitudes with age. Older children with ADHD exhibited smaller P3b amplitudes, while younger autistic children showed reduced MMN amplitudes in response to phoneme changes compared to their NT counterparts. Notably, children diagnosed with autism and ADHD did not follow this pattern; instead, they exhibited more similarities to NT children. The reduced amplitudes of phonetically elicited MMN in children with autism and reduced P3b in children with ADHD suggest that the two respective ERPs can act as potential biomarkers for each condition. However, optimisation and standardisation of the testing protocol, as well as longitudinal studies are required in order to translate these findings into clinical practice.

Association effects in pure methanol via Monte Carlo simulations. I. Structure.

A methodology for the determination of the oligomers residing in a pure associated fluid was developed in the framework of the molecular simulation technique. First, the number of hydrogen bonds between each pair of molecules of the fluid is computed by using a specific criterion to define the hydrogen bonding formation. Secondly, sets of molecules linked by hydrogen bonds are identified and classified as linear chains, cyclic aggregates, branched linear chains, branched cyclic aggregates, and the rest of clustering. The procedure is applied over all the configurations produced in usual Monte Carlo simulations and allows the computation of the following properties characterizing the structure of the fluid: the fraction of molecules in the monomer or associated state, the fraction of each type of aggregate with a given size (and of molecules belonging to them), and the most probable and the average cluster size for each type. In addition, the degree of branching in branched linear chains and the type of ring in branched cyclic clusters can be obtained. In this work, all these quantities were computed for OPLS methanol using NpT Monte Carlo simulations at atmospheric pressure for 298.15 K (room conditions) and from 800 K to 350 K (gas phase), and along several supercritical isobars: 25, 50, 100, 200, and 500 MPa from 250 K to 1000 K. An analysis of the results has provided a comprehensive structural picture of methanol over the whole thermodynamic state space.

Association effects in pure methanol via Monte Carlo simulations. II. Thermodynamics.

A simple methodology [P. Gómez-Álvarez, A. Dopazo-Paz, L. Romani, and D. González-Salgado, J. Chem. Phys. 134, 014512 (2011)] recently developed in the light of the Monte Carlo molecular simulation technique was used in this work to study the association effects on the response functions of methanol over the whole thermodynamic state space. It consists basically on evaluating the first order properties of the fluid (energy and volume) in terms of those for two hypothetical fluids living in the bulk composed by monomers and associated molecules, respectively. In this context, the second order thermodynamic derivatives can be expressed in a perturbative way as the sum of the monomer term (reference term) and the association contribution. Specifically, both contributions to the residual isobaric heat capacity, and to the pressure and temperature derivatives of the volume were determined for the optimized potential for liquid simulation (OPLS) of methanol through NPT Monte Carlo simulations from 250 K to 1000 K along the supercritical isobars 25, 100, 200, 500 MPa, and from 800 K to 350 K at 0.1 MPa. Results showed that both terms are relevant for the residual isobaric heat capacity and that their influence depends considerably on the thermodynamic conditions; however, the volumetric response functions were found mainly affected by the monomer contribution, especially the pressure derivative of the volume.

Association effects in the {methanol + inert solvent} system via Monte Carlo simulations. I. Structure.

In this work, the clusters residing in the {methanol + inert solvent} binary system have been characterized using a specific methodology in the framework of Monte Carlo molecular simulations. The cluster classification scheme considered distinguishes into five types: linear chains, cyclic clusters or isolated rings, branched linear chains, branched cyclic clusters, and composite rings. The procedure allows one to compute the next rich structural information: the fraction of molecules in the monomer or associated state, the fraction of each type of aggregate with a given size (and of molecules belonging to them), and the most probable and average cluster size for each type; likewise, the degree of branching in branched linear chains and the size distribution of the inner ring in branched cyclic clusters can be quantified. Specifically, all these properties were obtained for the {Optimized Potential for Liquid Simulation methanol + Lennard-Jones spheres} system at 298.15 K and 1 bar throughout the composition range. The results have provided a complete structural picture of this mixture describing comprehensively the effect of dilution into the hydrogen-bonded network of the pure associated fluid.

Association effects in the {methanol + inert solvent} system via Monte Carlo simulations. II. Thermodynamics.

Mixtures containing associated substances show a singular thermodynamic behaviour that has attracted to scientific community during the last century. Particularly, binary systems composed of an associating fluid and an inert solvent, where association occurs only between molecules of the same kind, have been extensively studied. A number of theoretical approaches were used in order to gain insights into the effect of the association on the macroscopic behaviour, especially on the second-order thermodynamic derivatives (or response functions). Curiously, to our knowledge, molecular simulations have not been used to that end despite describing the molecules and their interactions in a more complete and realistic way than theoretical models. With this in mind, a simple methodology developed in the framework of Monte Carlo molecular simulation is used in this work to quantify the association contribution to a wide set of thermodynamic properties for the {methanol + Lennard Jones} specific system under room conditions and throughout the composition range. Special attention was paid to the response functions and their respective excess properties, for which a detailed comparison with selected previous works in the field has been established.

Density functional theory for the prediction of interfacial properties of molecular fluids within the SAFT-γ coarse-grained approach.

Recently, we have proposed the SAFT-VR Mie MF DFT approach [Algaba et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2019, 21, 11937-11948] to investigate systems that exhibit fluid-fluid interfaces. This formalism is based on the combination of the Statistical Associating Fluid Theory for attractive potentials of variable range using Mie intermolecular potential (SAFT-VR Mie) and a Density Functional Theory (DFT) treatment of the free energy. A mean-field approach is used to evaluate the attractive term, neglecting the pair correlations associated to attractions. This theory has been combined with reported SAFT-γ Coarse-Grained (CG) Mie force fields to provide an excellent description of the vapor-liquid interface of carbon dioxide and water pure fluids. The present work is a natural and necessary extension of this previous study. We assess the adequacy of the proposed methodology for dealing with inhomogeneous fluid systems of large complex molecules, in particular carbon tetrafluoride and sulfur hexafluoride greenhouse gases, the refrigerant 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoro-1-propene, and the long-chain n-decane and n-eicosane hydrocarbons. The obvious diversity of these fluids, their chemical and industrial interest, and the fact of that SAFT-γ CG Mie force fields have been reported for them justify such choice. With the aim of testing the theory, we perform Molecular Dynamics simulations in the canonical ensemble using the direct coexistence technique for the same models. We focus both on bulk, such as coexistence diagrams and vapor pressure curves, as well as interfacial properties, including surface tension. The comparison of the theoretical predictions with the computational results as well as with experimental data taken from the literature demonstrates the reliability and generalization of this method for dealing simultaneously with vapor-liquid equilibrium and interfacial phenomena. Hence, it appears as a potential tool for the interface analysis, with the main advantage over molecular simulation of low computational cost, and solving the experimental difficulties in accurately measuring the surface tension of certain systems.

Preferential Orientations and Anomalous Interfacial Tensions in Aqueous Solutions of Alcohols.

Literature studies on interfacial tension versus temperature between normal alcohols and water show that it increases with temperature and exhibits a maximum value at a given temperature depending on the molecular weight of the alcohol. This very unusual behavior is supposedly accompanied by the formation of monolayers of alcohol molecules oriented preferentially at the interface, a structural issue not confirmed until now. We use molecular-based models for water and alcohols in combination with molecular dynamics simulations to provide physical insights, from a molecular perspective, into the structural and thermodynamic behavior at the liquid-liquid interfaces of aqueous solutions of alcohols.

Comparing gas separation performance between all known zeolites and their zeolitic imidazolate framework counterparts.

To find optimal porous materials for adsorption-based separations is a challenging task due to the extremely large number of possible pore topologies and compositions. New porous material classes such as Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are emerging, and hope to replace traditionally used materials such as zeolites. Computational screening offers relatively fast searching for candidate structures as well as side-by-side comparisons between material families. This work is pioneering at examining the families comprised by the experimentally known zeolites and their respective Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework (ZIF) counterparts in the context of a number of environmental and industrial separations involving carbon dioxide, nitrogen, methane, oxygen, and argon. Additionally, unlike related published work, here all the targeted structures have been previously relaxed through energy minimization. On the first level of characterization, we considered a detailed pore characterization, identifying 24 zeolites as promising candidates for gas separation based on adsorbate sizes. The second level involved interatomic potential-based calculations to assess the adsorption performance of the materials. We found no correlation in the values of heat of adsorption between zeolites and ZIFs sharing the same topology. A number of structures were identified as potential experimental targets for CO2/N2, and CO2/CH4 affinity-based separations.

Enantioselective adsorption of ibuprofen and lysine in metal-organic frameworks.

This study reveals the efficient enantiomeric separation of bioactive molecules in the liquid phase. Chiral structure HMOF-1 separates racemic mixtures whereas heteroselectivity is observed for scalemic mixtures of ibuprofen using non-chiral MIL-47 and MIL-53. Lysine enantiomers are only separated by HMOF-1. These separations are controlled by the tight confinement of the molecules.