Grazyna Dudziak

Effects of confinement on freezing and melting

We present a review of experimental, theoretical, and molecular simulation studies of confinement effects on freezing and melting. We consider both simple and more complex adsorbates that are confined in various environments (slit or cylindrical pores and also disordered porous materials). The most commonly used molecular simulation, theoretical and experimental methods are first presented. We also provide a brief description of the most widely used porous materials. The current state of knowledge on the effects of confinement on structure and freezing temperature, and the appearance of new surface-driven and confinement-driven phases are then discussed. We also address how confinement affects the glass transition.

Melting/freezing behavior of a fluid confined in porous glasses and MCM-41: Dielectric spectroscopy and molecular simulation

We report both experimental measurements and molecular simulations of the melting and freezing behavior of fluids in nanoporous media. The experimental studies are for nitrobenzene in the silica-based pores of controlled pore glass, Vycor, and MCM-41. Dielectric relaxation spectroscopy is used to determine melting points and the orientational relaxation times of the nitrobenzene molecules in the bulk and the confined phase. Monte Carlo simulations, together with a bond orientational order parameter method, are used to determine the melting point and fluid structure inside cylindrical pores modeled on silica. Qualitative comparison between experiment and simulation are made for the shift in the freezing temperatures and the structure of confined phases. From both the experiments and the simulations, it is found that the confined fluid freezes into a single crystalline structure for average pore diameters greater than 20σ, where σ is the diameter of the fluid molecule. For average pore sizes between 20σ and...

Freezing behavior in porous glasses and MCM-41

We report experimental measurements of the melting and freezing behavior of fluids in nano-porous media. The experimental studies are for nitrobenzene in the silica based pores of controlled pore glass (CPG), Vycor and MCM-41. Dielectric relaxation spectroscopy was used to determine melting points and the orientational relaxation times of the nitrobenzene molecules in the bulk and the confined phase. It was found that the confined fluid freezes into a single crystalline structure for average pore diameters greater than 20 , where is the diameter of the fluid molecule. For average pore sizes between 20 and 15 , part of the confined fluid freezes into a frustrated crystal structure with the rest forming an amorphous region. For pore sizes smaller than 15 , even the partial crystallization did not occur.

Dielectric studies of freezing behavior in porous materials: Water and methanol in activated carbon fibres

We report both experimental measurements and molecular simulations of the melting and freezing behavior of two dipolar fluids, water and methanol, in activated carbon fibres. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dielectric relaxation spectroscopy (DS) were used to determine the melting point in these porous materials. The melting point was found to be very sensitive to the relative strength of the fluid–wall interaction compared to the fluid–fluid interaction. Monte Carlo simulations and the Landau free energy formalism were used to determine the shift in the melting point, Tm, for simple fluids in pores having weakly attractive and strongly attractive walls. The strength of the interaction of the fluid with the pore wall is shown to have a large effect on the shift in Tm, with Tm being reduced for weakly attracting walls and elevated for strongly attracting walls.

Freezing/melting behaviour within carbon nanotubes

We report a study of the freezing and melting of fluids confined within multi-walled carbon nanotubes with an internal diameter of 5 nm, using experimental measurements and molecular simulations. Dielectric relaxation spectroscopy was used to determine the experimental melting points and relaxation times of nitrobenzene and carbon tetrachloride within carbon nanotubes, and parallel tempering Monte Carlo simulations in the grand canonical ensemble were performed for confined carbon tetrachloride. The simulations show that the adsorbate forms concentric layers that solidify into quasi-two-dimensional hexagonal crystals with defects; highly defective microcrystalline regions are formed in the inner layers, owing to the strong geometrical constraints. Our simulations show no formation of common three-dimensional crystalline structures (fcc, hcp, bcc, sc or icosahedral) in confinement. The results suggest the presence of inhomogeneous phases (i.e., combinations of crystalline and liquid regions) within the pore over extended temperature ranges. Our results indicate that the outer layers of adsorbate solidify at temperatures slightly higher than the bulk freezing point, whereas the inner layers freeze at lower temperatures. The simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental measurements.

Freezing/melting of Lennard-Jones fluids in carbon nanotubes

We report molecular simulation and experimental results for the freezing/melting behavior of Lennard-Jones fluids adsorbed in pores of cylindrical geometry, using simple models for multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) of inner diameter 5nm. For cylindrical pores, our results for a D=9.7σff MWNT show no formation of regular three-dimensional crystalline structures. They also suggest that the outer layers experience an increase in the freezing temperature, while the inner layers provoke a depression in the freezing temperature with respect to the bulk freezing point. Dielectric relaxation spectroscopy shows a solid-fluid transition at 234K for CCl4 in these MWNTs that is in qualitative agreement with that determined in our simulations for the inner adsorbed layers.

MELTING/FREEZING IN NARROW PORES; DIELECTRIC AND EPR STUDIES

We report results of a study of the phenomena associated with melting of nano-phases confined within narrow pores. The study was performed by differential scanning calorimetry, dielectric spectroscopy, nonlinear dielectric effect measurements and electron paramagnetic resonance. Results of theoretical calculations concerning the phenomena are also presented. It has been proved, by experimental and theoretical methods, that the phenomena of melting in nano-phases are accompanied by the appearance of new phases (contact layer phases, hexatic phase), the nature of which depends on the structure of the walls and the pore size. The melting temperatures also depend strongly on these factors.