Surface Interaction Strength Research Articles

Silane modification on mesoporous silica coated carbon nanotubes for improving compatibility and dispersity in epoxy matrices

A simple synthetic method for placing a mesoporous silica coating on multi-wall carbon nanotubes (CNTs@MS) was developed to improve the surface compatibility with regard to a polar epoxy matrix. In addition, the mesoporous silica shell with silanol groups on the CNTs provides a platform to attach silane molecules (e.g. 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane, GPTMS) that enable the CNTs@MS to be incorporated into the epoxy matrix at a content of up to 20wt.%. The viscosities of the CNTs@MS- and GPTMS-modified-CNTs@MS–epoxy composites are much lower than that of the CNTs–epoxy, and then the voids in the GPTMS-modified-CNTs@MS–epoxy composites are most significantly reduced. The effects of the CNTs@MS and GPTMS-modified CNTs@MS on the mechanical and thermal properties of the epoxy composite are investigated. The results show that the GPTMS-modified CNTs@MS improved the filler–epoxy matrix interaction, and has better compatibility in epoxy than the CNTs@MS. As the surface compatibility and interaction strength increase in the epoxy matrix, the enhancement in storage modulus, thermal conductivity and reduction in the coefficient of thermal expansion are in the following order: GPTMS-modified CNTs@MS>CNTs@MS≫CNTs.

Ferroelectric-Based Catalysis: Switchable Surface Chemistry

The maximum efficiency of a fixed catalytic surface occurs when the adsorbate–surface interaction strength is optimal as per the Sabatier principle: strong enough to drive the reactions forward but weak enough to permit the products’ desorption. Such a compromise can fundamentally limit catalytic activity. One solution is to create a surface with switchable activity between strong binding (rapid dissociation) and weak binding (easy desorption). On the basis of first-principles theory, we describe a class of catalysts comprising an epitaxial monolayer of a transition metal oxide on an oxide ferroelectric substrate in which reversing the ferroelectric polarization state switches the surface activity between these two limits. As an example, a CrO2 monolayer on ferroelectric PbTiO3 permits direct NOx decomposition and CO oxidation while circumventing oxygen and sulfur poisoning. Our computed binding energy trends are explained by a generalization of the canonical d-band model for transition metals to metal ox...

Substrate directed self-assembly of anisotropic nanoparticles

We present a molecular dynamics study on the self-assembly of anisotropic nanoparticles—triangles and tetrahedrons on a flat surface. We observe ordered and disordered aggregates of nanoparticles depending on the particle–particle and surface–particle interactions. Anisotropic particles induce directionality in the assembly process. In particular, a cross over from the isotropic (spherical) assembly to the anisotropic (non-spherical) assembly of nanoparticles is identified as their size increases for weak nanoparticle–surface interactions. However, at strong nanoparticle–surface interactions, clusters of nanoparticles grow uniformly on the surface. We present phase diagrams that depict all possible structures of triangles and tetrahedrons depending on their size (L) and the nanoparticle–surface interaction strength (εns). We show a disorder to order transition in the L−εns plane, as L and εns increase.

Surface phase diagram of the three-dimensional kinetic Ising model in an oscillating magnetic field.

We study the surface phase diagram of the three-dimensional kinetic Ising model below the equilibrium critical point subjected to a periodically oscillating magnetic field. Changing the surface interaction strength as well as the period of the external field, we obtain a nonequilibrium surface phase diagram that in parts strongly resembles the corresponding equilibrium phase diagram, with an ordinary transition, an extraordinary transition, and a surface transition. These three lines meet at a special transition point. For weak surface couplings, however, the surface does not order. These results are found to remain qualitatively unchanged when using different single-spin flip dynamics.

Surface induced nucleation of a Lennard-Jones system on an implicit surface at sub-freezing temperatures: A comparison with the classical nucleation theory

The aggregation-volume-bias Monte Carlo method was employed to study surface-induced nucleation of Lennard-Jonesium on an implicit surface below the melting point. It was found that surfaces catalyze not only the formation of the droplets (where the nucleation free energy barriers were shown to decrease with increasing surface interaction strength), but also the transition of these droplets into crystal structures due to the surface-induced layering effects. However, this only occurs under suitable interaction strength. When surface attraction is too strong, crystallization is actually inhibited due to the spread of the particles across the surface and corresponding formation of two-dimensional clusters. The simulation results were also used to examine the bulk-droplet based classical nucleation theory for surface-induced nucleation, particularly the additional contact angle term used to describe both the nucleation free energy barrier heights and the critical cluster sizes compared to its homogeneous nucleation formalism. Similar to what has been found previously for homogeneous nucleation, the theory does poorly toward the high-supersaturation region when the critical clusters are small and fractal, but the theoretical predictions on both barrier heights and critical cluster sizes improve rapidly with the decrease of the supersaturation.

Effects of surface structure and solvophilicity on the crystallization of confined liquids

The crystallization of liquids confined at the nanoscale plays an important role in scientific and engineering applications, yet crystallization at the nanoscale is not well understood. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we study the crystallization of a confined liquid characterized by isotropic pair interactions with water-like properties. We focus on the effects of (i) confining surface structure (structureless vs. amorphous), (ii) surface–liquid interaction strengths (solvophobic vs. solvophilic), and (iii) confining dimensions on the crystallization of a liquid confined between two parallel walls. We find that crystallization under severe confinement is very different from crystallization processes in bulk liquids. Specifically, in all cases studied, crystallization involves two steps, a rapid arrangement of liquid particles into layers, followed by a slower increase of order within the layers. For the system under study, the crystallization mechanism depends on the surface structure but it is independent of the solvophobicity/solvophilicity of the surfaces. Specifically, in the case of structureless surfaces, crystallization initiates at the surface and then propagates towards the rest of the liquid, while for amorphous surfaces, crystallization occurs rather uniformly within the confined volume. In addition, crystallization is favored, i.e. crystallization times are shorter, when the surfaces are structureless than in the case of amorphous surfaces. Interestingly, the effect of surface solvophobicity/solvophilicity is opposite for structureless and amorphous surfaces. It is found that increasing the liquid–surface interaction strength favors crystallization for the case of structureless surfaces, while it tends to suppress crystallization for the case of amorphous surfaces. The present results reflect the complexity of crystallization processes at the nanoscale and in particular, its sensitivity to the confining surface properties.

Understanding the Solvent Effect on the Catalytic Oxidation of 1,4‐Butanediol in Methanol over Au/TiO2 Catalyst: NMR Diffusion and Relaxation Studies

The effect of water on the catalytic oxidation of 1,4-butanediol in methanol over Au/TiO(2) has been investigated by catalytic reaction studies and NMR diffusion and relaxation studies. The addition of water to the dry catalytic system led to a decrease of both conversion and selectivity towards dimethyl succinate. Pulsed-field gradient (PFG)-NMR spectroscopy was used to assess the effect of water addition on the effective self-diffusivity of the reactant within the catalyst. NMR relaxation studies were also carried out to probe the strength of surface interaction of the reactant in the absence and presence of water. PFG-NMR studies revealed that the addition of water to the initial system, although increasing the dilution of the system, leads to a significant decrease of effective diffusion rate of the reactant within the catalyst. From T(1) and T(2) relaxation measurements it was possible to infer the strength of surface interaction of the reactant with the catalyst surface. The addition of water was found to inhibit the adsorption of the reactant over the catalyst surface, with the T(1)/T(2) ratio of 1,4-butanediol decreasing significantly when water was added. The results overall suggest that both the decrease of diffusion rate and adsorption strength of the reactant within the catalyst, due to water addition, limits the access of reactant molecules to the catalytic sites, which results in a decrease of reaction rate and conversion.

Influence of the Substrate on the Mobility of Individual Nanocars

We monitored the mobility of individual fluorescent nanocars on three surfaces: plasma cleaned, reactive ion etched, and amine-functionalized glass. Using single-molecule fluorescence imaging, the percentage of moving nanocars and their diffusion constants were determined for each substrate. We found that the nanocar mobility decreased with increasing surface roughness and increasing surface interaction strength.

IMAGING OF FLUOROPHORES IN CHROMATOGRAPHIC BEADS, RECONSTRUCTION OF RADIAL DENSITY DISTRIBUTIONS AND CHARACTERISATION OF PROTEIN UPTAKING PROCESSES

A new adjustment calculus is presented to determine the true intraparticle distribution of bound protein within chromatographic beads from confocal fluorescence slice series. The calculus does not require knowledge about optical properties of different chromatographic materials like refractive index and turbidity, but it depends on a parameter which can be adjusted interactively. The algorithm is of complexity O(n) where n is the pixel number. From the reconstructed data we compute the parameters of the protein uptaking process using a model-based approach. It is demonstrated that the protein uptaking rates of the beads strongly dependent on the conditions of the fluid phase influencing the strength of protein surface interaction.

Molecular dynamics simulation of thermal boundary conductance between carbon nanotubes andSiO2

We investigate thermal energy coupling between carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and SiO2 with non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. The thermal boundary conductance (g) per unit CNT length is found to scale proportionally with the strength of the Van der Waals interaction (~X), with CNT diameter (~D), and as a weak power law of temperature (~T^1/3 between 200-600 K). The thermal relaxation time of a single CNT on SiO2 is independent of diameter, tau ~ 85 ps. With the standard set of parameters g ~ 0.1 W/m/K for a 1.7 nm diameter CNT at room temperature. Our results are comparable to, and explain the range of experimental values for CNT-SiO2 thermal coupling from variations in diameter, temperature, or details of the surface interaction strength.

Molecular dynamics study of surface-tethered S(CH 2CH 2O) 6CH 3: Helix formation and thermal disorder

We present the results of a molecular dynamics study of a set of surface-tethered S(CH 2CH 2O) 6CH 3 chains. In this study, we analyze helix formation, in addition to thermal disorder, and find that spontaneous helix formation and details of helix morphology depend on charge partitioning ascribed to oxygen and the methylene groups. The effects of varying surface coverage as well as chain–surface interaction strength indicate that a set of approximately 7 2 helical structures oriented predominantly normal to the surface are formed at near full coverage. This occurs even though thermal disorder clearly precludes a description based on the concept of a perfect crystalline monolayer. Thermal fluctuations in chain morphology in the vicinity of the terminal methyl groups lead to the exposure of oxygen to the external environment. We also find that the persistence of compact helix-containing domains at partial surface coverage results in the formation of well-defined cavities or void regions that expose the bare surface, even in the presence of strong chain–surface attractive interactions.

The Effects of Nanoparticles on the Lamellar Phase Separation of Diblock Copolymers

The phase separation of diblock copolymers containing some energetically neutral/biased nanoparticles is studied by means of large-scale dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations. The effects of the volume fraction of nanoparticles, the size of nanoparticles, and the interaction strength between nanoparticles and blocks on the lamellar phase separation of diblock copolymers are investigated. When these effects are up to a critical value, the diblock copolymer nanocomposites can form a new bicontinuous morphology, which is well consistent with the experimental results. It is also found that the degree of order of phase separation for a given system increases slightly and then decreases abruptly until the bicontinuous morphology is formed as the volume fraction of nanoparticles increases. Furthermore, we discuss the microphase transition through the position distributions of nanoparticles and present a phase diagram in terms of the nanoparticle volume fraction, size, and surface interaction strength.

Correlations between magnetic properties and bond formation in Rh–MgO(0 0 1)

We present the results of first principles calculations for the magnetism of Rh adlayers on MgO(0 0 1), at three different adsorption sites and three different coverages, corresponding to 1, 1/2 and 1/8 monolayers. Finite magnetization is found in all cases except that of one Rh monolayer above the oxygen site, which is also the most stable. We examine how the magnetization changes as a function of the Rh–surface distance and relate this to changes in the real-space charge density and in the density of states (DOS) as the Rh adlayer interacts with the surface. We find that increasing either the Rh–Rh interaction strength or the Rh–surface interaction strength leads to reduced magnetization, while increasing the former drives a crossover from localized (atomic) to itinerant magnetism. Neither the magnetic transition itself, nor the localized-to-itinerant magnetism crossover, is found to be directly related to the formation of Rh–surface bonds. From a practical point of view, we predict that magnetism in the Rh–MgO(0 0 1) system is most likely to be found experimentally at reduced coverages and at low temperatures.

Estimation of polymer–surface interfacial interaction strength by a contact AFM technique

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements were employed to assess polymer–surface interfacial interaction strength. The main feature of the measurement is the use of contact-mode AFM as a tool to scratch off the polymer monolayer adsorbed on the solid surface. Tapping-mode AFM was used to determine the depth of the scraped recess. Independent determination of the layer thickness obtained from optical phase interference microscopy (OPIM) confirmed the depth of the AFM scratch. The force required for the complete removal of the polymer layer with no apparent damage to the substrate surface was determined. Polypropylene (PP), low-density polyethylene (PE), and PP-grafted-maleic anhydride (PP-g-ma) were scraped off silane-treated glass slabs, and the strength of surface interaction of the polymer layer was determined. In all cases it was determined that the magnitude of surface interaction force is of the order of van der Waals (VDW) interactions. The interaction strength is influenced either by polymer ability to wet the surface (hydrophobic or hydrophilic interactions) or by hydrogen bonding between the polymer and the surface treatment.

A Thermodynamically Stable Nanophase Material

Nanoparticles are metastable relative to the equivalent bulk material due to the positive excess interfacial free energy (IFE). Previous studies have shown that, with increasing surface interaction strength, the IFE diminishes but remains positive. We describe an experimental multicomponent system in which a nanoscale ZnS material is thermodynamically favored and can be formed at the expense of bulk ZnS. In 17 M sodium hydroxide solution, at 230 degrees C, both 3 nm ZnS nanoparticles and bulk ZnS are transformed into sheetlike nanocrystals with a ZnS polytype structure. Our results are theoretically compatible with the concept of a negative IFE, although not with the assumption of constant interface composition. We clarify the meaning of an effective negative IFE and present the necessary conditions for strong chemical surface interactions to stabilize nanoscale inorganic materials relative to bulk matter. Our results show that synthesis methods employing thermodynamic controls can produce nanomaterials with novel morphology.

Liquid Nanodroplets Spreading on Chemically Patterned Surfaces

Controlling the spatial distribution of liquid droplets on surfaces via surface energy patterning can be used to deliver material to specified regions via selective liquid/solid wetting. Although studies of the equilibrium shape of liquid droplets on heterogeneous substrates exist, much less is known about the corresponding wetting kinetics. Here we present large-scale atomistic simulations of liquid nanodroplets spreading on chemically patterned surfaces. Results are presented for lines of polymer liquid (droplets) on substrates consisting of alternating strips of wetting (equilibrium contact angle theta0 = 0 degrees) and nonwetting (theta0 approximately 90 degrees) material. Droplet spreading is compared for different wavelength lambda of the pattern and strength of surface interaction on the wetting strips. For small lambda, droplets partially spread on both the wetting and nonwetting regions of the substrate to attain a finite contact angle less than 90 degrees. In this case, the extent of spreading depends on the interaction strength in the wetting regions. A transition is observed such that, for large lambda, the droplet spreads only on the wetting region of the substrate by pulling material from nonwetting regions. In most cases, a precursor film spreads on the wetting portion of the substrate at a rate strongly dependent on the width of the wetting region.

Probing surface interactions by combining NMR cryoporometry and NMR relaxometry

To further expand on the understanding of surface interactions at the liquid/solid interface on pore walls, the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques of cryoporometry and relaxometry have been combined. The combination of these techniques allows variations in NMR relaxation parameters from pore surface to volume ratio changes and from surface interaction changes to be distinguished. By studying a range of sol–gel silicas from two different sources, it was noted that the relaxation time measurements were not consistent with the pore diameters determined by cryoporometry and N2 gas adsorption. Instead distinctly different relaxivity constants were determined for each absorbate in each of the two brands of silica. It was clear that the relaxation times were modified by more than just the pore geometry. Independent experiments on the two brands of silica suggested that the relaxometry results were heavily influenced by the concentration of paramagnetic relaxation centres in the silica gels. The strength of surface interaction, and hence surface affinity, was seen to depend on the liquid in the pores. Using this difference in surface affinities, binary mixtures of alkanes placed in sol–gel silicas were separated via preferential absorption and their components identified using cryoporometry, whereas the components could not be distinguished in the bulk liquid.

Diverse Spreading Behavior of Binary Polymer Nanodroplets

Molecular dynamics simulations are used to study the spreading of binary polymer nanodroplets in a cylindrical geometry. The polymers, described by the bead-spring model, spread on a flat surface with a surface-coupled Langevin thermostat to mimic the effects of a corrugated surface. Each droplet consists of chains of length 10 or 100 monomers with approximately 350,000 monomers total. The qualitative features of the spreading dynamics are presented for differences in chain length, surface interaction strength, and composition. When the components of the droplet differ only in the surface interaction strength, the more strongly wetting component forms a monolayer film on the surface even when both materials are above or below the wetting transition. In the case where the only difference is the polymer chain length, the monolayer film beneath the droplet is composed of an equal amount of short chain and long chain monomers even when one component (the shorter chain length) is above the wetting transition and the other is not. The fraction of short and long chains in the precursor foot depends on whether both the short and the long chains are in the wetting regime. Diluting the concentration of the strongly wetting component in a mixture with a weakly wetting component decreases the rate of diffusion of the wetting material from the bulk to the surface and limits the spreading rate of the precursor foot, but the bulk spreading rate actually increases when both components are present. This may be due to the strongly wetting material pushing out the weakly wetting material as it moves toward the precursor foot.

Photocatalytic production of hydrogen in single component and mixture systems of electron donors and monitoring adsorption of donors by in situ infrared spectroscopy

The photocatalytic production of hydrogen using aqueous Pt/TiO 2 suspension has been investigated in single component and mixture systems of electron donors (pollutants). The reaction systems consisted of oxalic acid, formic acid and formaldehyde, respectively. The adsorption of these donors on TiO 2 was also monitored by in situ attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy (ATRIR). In the single component systems, the efficiency order of electron donors is as follows: H 2C 2O 4 > HCOOH > HCHO. The order is consistent with the order of adsorption affinity of the electron donors on TiO 2 determined by ATRIR, which suggests a link between the strength of surface interaction and the efficiency of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. In the binary mixture systems, competitive inhibition kinetics is observed. When a donor adsorbed strongly on TiO 2 in a state of saturated adsorption in a binary system, the overall rate of the hydrogen evolution is consistent with that of decomposition of the donor, and the system can be treated as a single component system.

Ordering mechanisms in confined diblock copolymers

We present several ordering mechanisms in diblock copolymers. For temperatures above the order-disorder temperature and in the weak segregation regime, a linear response theory is presented which gives the polymer density in the vicinity of confining flat surfaces. The surfaces are chemically patterned where different regions attract different parts of the copolymer chain. The surface pattern or template is decomposed into its Fourier modes, and the decay of these modes is analyzed. The propagation of the surface pattern into the disordered bulk is given for several types of patterns (e.g. uniform and striped surface). It is further shown that complex morphology can be induced in a thin film even though the bulk is disordered. We next consider lamellar diblock copolymers (low temperature regime) in the presence of a striped surface. It is shown that lamellae acquire a tilt with respect to the surface, if the surface periodicity is larger than the bulk one. The lamellae close to the surface are strongly distorted from their perfect shape. When the surface and lamellar periodicities are equal, the lamellae are perpendicular to the surface. Lastly, the transition from parallel to perpendicular lamellae in a thin film is presented. The transition between the two states depends on the surface separation and strength of surface interactions. We further calculate the phase diagram in the presence of perpendicular electric field favoring perpendicular ordering. In the strong segregation limit we introduce a simple model to calculate the phase diagram of the fully parallel, fully perpendicular and mixed (parallel and perpendicular) states.