Adsorption and structure of benzene confined in disordered porous carbons: effect of pore heterogeneity and surface chemistry

Abstract

ABSTRACTMolecular simulations are used to study the adsorption of benzene at 300 K in atomistic models of disordered nanoporous carbons. These models, named as CS400, CS1000 and CS1000a, differ in density and chemical compositions, and reproduce the morphological and topological features present in real nanoporous carbons. We found that the adsorption phenomena depend upon the local structure of nanoporous carbons. To understand the effect of surface chemistry on adsorption and structure of confined benzene, functional groups (–COOH and –C=O) were added to these models. The presence of functional groups led to the onset of adsorption process at a low pressure. The carboxyl groups (–COOH) have a greater impact on adsorption as compared to carbonyl (–C=O) groups. The CS1000a models have wide micropores and thus it exhibits a jump in adsorption isotherm. The jump shifts towards lower pressure on the addition of functional groups, with –COOH groups showing a larger shift. The presence of functional groups also increases the isosteric heat of adsorption, with –COOH groups showing higher values. The coulombic contribution to total fluid–wall interaction energy is higher for –COOH functional groups and decreases on increasing pressure. Benzene confined in CS1000a models exhibit a liquid-like structure.