Molecular simulation of the impact of surface roughness on carbon dioxide adsorption in organic-rich shales

Abstract

This study investigates the adsorption behavior of carbon dioxide in organic nanopores with different surface roughness. The nanopores are constructed by sinusoidally corrugating the graphite slit pore walls. By computing the density distributions, adsorption quantities and orientation of carbon dioxide under various pressure and roughness conditions, we elucidate the impacts of surface roughness on carbon dioxide adsorption in organic nanopores. The Langmuir-Freundlich adsorption model is utilized to fit the isotherms of CO2 adsorption under three different roughness conditions. the results show that increasing surface roughness led to the increase in the adsorption of carbon dioxide, as the relative roughness increased from 0% to 12.92%, the average CO2 adsorption capacity increased by 0.003 mmol/m2. Both the adsorbed layer density and monolayer maximum adsorption capacity increased concurrently with escalating roughness. Moreover, carbon dioxide molecules preferentially aligned parallel to the rough organic surface within the adsorption layer, consistent with the smooth graphitic wall configuration. All simulations, observations, and calculations were performed through grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations. These findings provide insights into the influence of surface roughness on CO2 adsorption, especially in organic nanopores, which has substantial implications for carbon capture and geological sequestration applications. The results could facilitate optimization of strategies for efficient, secure geological CO2 storage.