Brooks D. Rabideau

Observed mechanism for the breakup of small bundles of cellulose Iα and Iβ in ionic liquids from molecular dynamics simulations.

Explicit, all-atom molecular dynamics simulations are used to study the breakup of small bundles of cellulose Iα and Iβ in the ionic liquids [BMIM]Cl, [EMIM]Ac, and [DMIM]DMP. In all cases, significant breakup of the bundles is observed with the initial breakup following a common underlying mechanism. Anions bind strongly to the hydroxyl groups of the exterior strands of the bundle, forming negatively charged complexes. Binding also weakens the intrastrand hydrogen bonds present in the cellulose strands, providing greater strand flexibility. Cations then intercalate between the individual strands, likely due to charge imbalances, providing the bulk to push the individual moieties apart and initiating the separation. The peeling of an individual strand from the main bundle is observed in [EMIM]Ac with an analysis of its hydrogen bonds with other strands showing that the chain detaches glucan by glucan from the main bundle in discrete, rapid events. Further analysis shows that the intrastrand hydrogen bonds of each glucan tend to break for a sustained period of time before the interstrand hydrogen bonds break and strand detachment occurs. Examination of similar nonpeeling strands shows that, without this intrastrand hydrogen bond breakage, the structural rigidity of the individual unit can hinder its peeling despite interstrand hydrogen bond breakage.

Effects of Water Concentration on the Structural and Diffusion Properties of Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquid–Water Mixtures

We have used molecular dynamics simulations to study the properties of three ionic liquid (IL)-water systems: 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([bmim]Cl), 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([emim][Ac]), and 1,3-dimethylimidazolium dimethylphosphate ([dmim][DMP]). We observe the transition of those mixtures from pure IL to aqueous solution by analyzing the changes in important bulk properties (density) and structural and bonding properties (radial distribution functions, water clustering, hydrogen bonding, and cationic stacking) as well as dynamical properties (diffusion coefficients) at 12 different concentration samplings of each mixture, ranging from 0.0 to 99.95 mol % water. Our simulations revealed across all of the different structural, bonding, and dynamical properties major structural changes consistent with a transition from IL-water mixture to aqueous solution in all three ILs at water concentrations around 75 mol %. Among the structural changes observed were rapid increase in the frequency of hydrogen bonds, both water-water and water-anion. Similarly, at these critical concentrations, the water clusters formed begin to span the entire simulation box, rather than existing as isolated networks of molecules. At the same time, there is a sudden decrease in cationic stacking at the transition point, followed by a rapid increase near 90 mol % water. Finally, the diffusion coefficients of individual cations and anions show a rapid transition from rates consistent with diffusion in ILs to rates consistent with diffusion in water beginning at 75 mol % water. The location of this transition is consistent, for [bmim]Cl and [dmim][DMP], with the water concentration limit above which the ILs are unable to dissolve cellulose.

The role of the cation in the solvation of cellulose by imidazolium-based ionic liquids.

We present a systematic molecular dynamics study examining the roles of the individual ions of different alkylimidazolium-based ionic liquids in the solvation of cellulose. We examine combinations of chloride, acetate, and dimethylphosphate anions paired with cations of increasing tail length to elucidate the precise role of the cation in solvating cellulose. In all cases we find that the cation interacts with the nonpolar domains of cellulose through dispersion interactions, while interacting electrostatically with the anions bound at the polar domains of cellulose. Furthermore, the structure and dimensions of the imidazolium head facilitate the formation of large chains and networks of alternating cations and anions that form a patchwork, satisfying both the polar and nonpolar domains of cellulose. A subtle implication of increasing tail length is the dilution of the anion concentration in the bulk and at the cellulose surface. We show how this decreased concentration of anions in the bulk affects hydrogen bond formation with cellulose and how rearrangements from single hydrogen bonds to multiple shared hydrogen bonds can moderate the loss in overall hydrogen bond numbers. Additionally, for the tail lengths examined in this study we observe only a very minor effect of tail length on the solvation structure and overall interaction energies.

The effects of chloride binding on the behavior of cellulose-derived solutes in the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride.

The structure and diffusion of various linear and ringed solutes are examined in two different solvents, the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([BMIM]Cl) and SPC/E water, using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The formation of distinctly ordered local solvent environments around these solutes is observed. Specifically, spatial distribution functions reveal significant ordering of the solvents around the solutes with chloride-hydroxyl group interactions largely dictating these arrangements. Further, a breakdown of the hydrogen bonds that develop between the solute and solvent is provided, showing a relationship between the presence of additional functional groups and the distribution of hydrogen bonds. The diffusivities of the solutes were determined in water at 298 K, 1 bar and [BMIM]Cl at 400 K, 1 bar. The results show that the solutes were approximately 10-100 times more diffusive in water than in [BMIM]Cl. Within [BMIM]Cl, diffusivity appears to decrease with increasing strength of the hydroxyl groups present. Additionally, the free energies of solvation of the solutes are determined with COSMO-RS, providing information about their tendencies in forming aggregates. These results are then compared with MD results in which aggregation is quantified through the use of a dispersion measure. Though all solutes remained relatively dispersed in each of the solvents, those with hydroxyl groups were seen to be the most highly dispersed in the solvent [BMIM]Cl. Further, the dynamic dispersal of a large solute aggregate into [BMIM]Cl was studied, finding that solutes with hydroxyl groups tend to form complexes with the chloride ions. If strong enough, these chlorides can actually bind multiple solutes together into long chains, inhibiting their dispersal in solvent. It is believed that the formation of these chloride-solute complexes is largely responsible for the decreased diffusivity and elevated dispersion seen in simulations with [BMIM]Cl.

Definition and Computation of Intermolecular Contact in Liquids Using Additively Weighted Voronoi Tessellation

We present a definition of intermolecular surface contact by applying weighted Voronoi tessellations to configurations of various organic liquids and water obtained from molecular dynamics simulations. This definition of surface contact is used to link the COSMO-RS model and molecular dynamics simulations. We demonstrate that additively weighted tessellation is the superior tessellation type to define intermolecular surface contact. Furthermore, we fit a set of weights for the elements C, H, O, N, F, and S for this tessellation type to obtain optimal agreement between the models. We use these radii to successfully predict contact statistics for compounds that were excluded from the fit and mixtures. The observed agreement between contact statistics from COSMO-RS and molecular dynamics simulations confirms the capability of the presented method to describe intermolecular contact. Furthermore, we observe that increasing polarity of the surfaces of the examined molecules leads to weaker agreement in the contact statistics. This is especially pronounced for pure water.

Effect of Water Content in N-Methylmorpholine N-Oxide/Cellulose Solutions on Thermodynamics, Structure, and Hydrogen Bonding

Native crystalline cellulose is notoriously difficult to dissolve due to its dense hydrogen bond network between chains and weaker hydrophobic forces between cellulose sheets. N-Methylmorpholine N-oxide (NMMO), the solvent behind the Lyocell process, is one of the most successful commercial solvents for the nonderivatized dissolution of cellulose. In this process, water plays a very important role. Its presence at low concentrations allows NMMO to dissolve substantial amounts of cellulose, while at much higher concentrations it precipitates the crystalline fibers. Using all-atom molecular dynamics, we study the thermodynamic and structural properties of ternary solutions of cellulose, NMMO, and water. Using the two-phase thermodynamic method to calculate solvent entropy, we estimate the free energy of dissolution of cellulose as a function of the water concentration and find a transition of spontaneity that is in excellent agreement with experiment. In pure water, we find that cellulose dissolution is nonspontaneous, a result that is due entirely to strong decreases in water entropy. Although the combined effect of enthalpy on dissolution in water is negligible, we observe a net loss of hydrogen bonds, resulting in a change in hydrogen bond energy that opposes dissolution. At lower water concentrations, cellulose dissolution is spontaneous and largely driven by decreases in enthalpy, with solvent entropy playing only a very minor role. When searching for the root causes of this enthalpy decrease, a complex picture emerges in which not one but many different factors contribute to NMMOs good solvent behavior. The reduction in enthalpy is led by the formation of strong hydrogen bonds between cellulose and NMMOs N-oxide, intensified through van der Waals interactions between NMMOs nonpolar body and the nonpolar surfaces of cellulose and unhindered by water at low concentrations due to the formation of efficient hydrogen bonds between water and cellulose.

Multiresolution Modeling of Semidilute Polymer Solutions: Coarse-Graining Using Wavelet-Accelerated Monte Carlo

We present a hierarchical coarse-graining framework for modeling semidilute polymer solutions, based on the wavelet-accelerated Monte Carlo (WAMC) method. This framework forms a hierarchy of resolutions to model polymers at length scales that cannot be reached via atomistic or even standard coarse-grained simulations. Previously, it was applied to simulations examining the structure of individual polymer chains in solution using up to four levels of coarse-graining (Ismail et al., J. Chem. Phys., 2005, 122, 234901 and Ismail et al., J. Chem. Phys., 2005, 122, 234902), recovering the correct scaling behavior in the coarse-grained representation. In the present work, we extend this method to the study of polymer solutions, deriving the bonded and non-bonded potentials between coarse-grained superatoms from the single chain statistics. A universal scaling function is obtained, which does not require recalculation of the potentials as the scale of the system is changed. To model semi-dilute polymer solutions, we assume the intermolecular potential between the coarse-grained beads to be equal to the non-bonded potential, which is a reasonable approximation in the case of semidilute systems. Thus, a minimal input of microscopic data is required for simulating the systems at the mesoscopic scale. We show that coarse-grained polymer solutions can reproduce results obtained from the more detailed atomistic system without a significant loss of accuracy.