Capillary Phase Transitions of Linear and Branched Alkanes in Carbon Nanotubes from Molecular Simulation

Abstract

Capillary phase transitions of linear (from C(1) to C(12)) and branched (C(5) isomers) alkanes in single-walled carbon nanotubes have been investigated using the gauge-cell Monte Carlo simulation. The isotherm at a supercritical temperature increases monotonically with chemical potential and coincides with that from the traditional grand canonical Monte Carlo simulation, whereas the isotherm at a subcritical temperature exhibits a sigmoid van der Waals loop including stable, metastable, and unstable regions. Along this loop, the coexisting phases are determined using an Maxwell equal-area construction. A generic confinement effect is found that reduces the saturation chemical potential, lowers the critical temperature, increases the critical density, and shrinks the phase envelope. The effect is greater in a smaller diameter nanotube and is greater in a nanotube than in a nanoslit.