José Luis Solorio Rivera

Tribological durability of silane monolayers on silicon.

We report the frictional performance and long-term tribological stability of various alkyl silane monolayer films on silicon by using pin-on-disk tribometry at ambient conditions. We show that the durability of monolayers derived from n-alkyltrichlorosilanes on silicon increases exponentially with the chain length of the silane precursor, which we relate to the cohesive energy of these monolayers through molecular dynamics simulations. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to show that tribological damage consisted of the loss of molecular components that could be partially replaced upon exposure to a solution containing perfluorinated silane precursors. For monolayers derived from n-octadecyltrichlorosilane, a critical load was identified to be approximately 250 mN (200 MPa), above which failure of films occurred within 100 cycles of testing. Monolayers with hydroxyl surfaces exhibited reduced stabilities due to stronger tip-surface interactions. Monolayers with the capability for cross-linking exhibited much greater stabilities than monolayers where cross-linking was limited or prevented. Collectively, these results demonstrate that the mechanical durability of monolayers when subjected to a tribological load is greatly enhanced by maximizing dispersional interactions and cross-linking and minimizing tip-surface interactions.

Polarizable contributions to the surface tension of liquid water

Surface tension, gamma, strongly affects interfacial properties in fluids. The degree to which polarizability affects gamma in water is thus far not well established. To address this situation, we carry out molecular dynamics simulations to study the interfacial forces acting on a slab of liquid water surrounded by vacuum using the Gaussian charge polarizable (GCP) model at 298.15 K. The GCP model incorporates both a fixed dipole due to Gaussian distributed charges and a polarizable dipole. We find a well-defined bulklike region forms with a width of approximately 31 A. The average density of the bulklike region agrees with the experimental value of 0.997 g/cm3. However, we find that the orientation of the molecules in the bulklike region is strongly influenced by the interfaces, even at a distance five molecular diameters from the interface. Specifically, the orientations of both the permanent and induced dipoles show a preferred orientation parallel to the interface. Near the interface, the preferred orientation of the dipoles becomes more pronounced and the average magnitude of the induced dipoles decreases monotonically. To quantify the degree to which molecular orientation affects gamma, we calculate the contributions to gamma from permanent dipolar interactions, induced dipolar interactions, and dispersion forces. We find that the induced dipole interactions and the permanent dipole interactions, as well as the cross interactions, have positive contributions to gamma, and therefore contribute stability to the interface. The repulsive core interactions result in a negative contribution to gamma, which nearly cancels the positive contributions from the dipoles. The large negative core contributions to gamma are the result of small oxygen-oxygen separation between molecules. These small separations occur due to the strong attractions between hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The final predicted value for gamma (68.65 m/Nm) shows a deviation of approximately 4% of the experimental value of 71.972 m/Nm. The inclusion of polarization is critical for this model to produce an accurate value.

Frictional Properties of Mixed Fluorocarbon/Hydrocarbon Silane Monolayers: A Simulation Study

Because of small surface area to volume ratios nanoscale devices can exhibit dominant surface forces that can quickly degrade unlubricated contacting surfaces. While fluorinated materials have been widely used as lubricants, because of their low critical surface tension and high thermal and mechanical stability, fluorinated monolayer coatings, which are suitable for lubricating nanoscale devices, are less effective as lubricants. Although fluorinated monolayers are more stable than their hydrocarbon counterparts against elevated temperature and humidity, they are known to exhibit higher frictional forces. To overcome this issue, here we study mixed monolayers composed of both hydrocarbon and fluorocarbon chains. Hydrocarbon-based monolayers have been widely studied and shown to improve frictional properties and device life. To investigate the frictional behavior of mixed fluorocarbon/hydrocarbon monolayers, molecular dynamics simulations of pure hydrogenated and fluorinated chains and mixed fluorinated/hydrogenated chains on silica surfaces have been performed. The adhesion and friction between the nanoconfined monolayers as a function of normal load, chain length, and chemical composition of the monolayer coating have been investigated, and mixed fluorocarbon/hydrocarbon monolayers found to outperform both pure fluorocarbon and pure hydrocarbon monolayers. Surface coverage was found to have a significant effect on the performance of all systems studied with higher surface coverage resulting in lower frictional forces. The simulations also show that when the hydrocarbon chains in the monolayer are longer than the fluorocarbon chains, a liquidlike layer is formed by the longer hydrocarbon chains that protrudes above the shorter fluorocarbon chains and aids in friction reduction. A frictional load dependence is also seen in these mixed monolayer systems because of repulsive interactions between the fluorocarbon base layer and the hydrocarbon liquidlike layer. A chain length difference of eight carbons between the base layer and the liquidlike layer was found to provide the lowest friction, while both a larger (because of increased entanglement) and a smaller (insufficient atoms between the contacting base layers to form a liquidlike layer) chain length difference increased friction.

Examining the frictional forces between mixed hydrophobic-hydrophilic alkylsilane monolayers.

Monolayers presenting methyl-terminated (hydrophobic) and hydroxyl-terminated (hydrophilic) surfaces on silica have been studied by molecular dynamics simulation and the effects of hydrogen bonding, chain length, and chain mixing on the frictional properties determined. The hydroxyl-terminated monolayers were found to show large adhesion zones as a result of strong interfacial interlayer hydrogen bonds; the interfacial sliding forces observed in the hydroxyl-terminated monolayers being one order of magnitude higher than the interfacial forces for the hydrophobic surfaces at the characteristic point of zero-load. Mixed hydroxyl- and methyl-terminated monolayers of equal length were found to exhibit intermediate shear stress values between those observed for pure monolayers, with the magnitude of the shear stress depending on the surface content of the hydroxyl-terminated chains. For mixed monolayers of unequal chain lengths, at high loads a maximum in the magnitude of the shear stress as a function of the length of the methyl-terminated chain was observed due to the creation of a buffer zone between the hydroxyl-terminated chains that produces strong hydrogen-bonding interactions. The effect of a constant normal load or constant separation simulation ensemble on the results has also been studied and in general found to have minimal influence on the observed behavior, although some differences are observed for the shear stress at intermediate normal loads due to the formation of stronger hydrogen bond networks at constant load compared to constant separation.

CLEAN-UP OF WASTES FROM THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY USING ANIONIC CLAYS

Toxic dyes must be removed from waste water coming from the textile and paint industries. Adsorption is one possible method of removing dyes under ‘soft’ conditions, without the generation of secondary hazardous materials. The present study used the carbonate-containing layered double hydroxides (LDH), Mg-Al and Mg-Zn-Al (with a M2+/M3+ ratio of 3), as adsorbents to remove two industrial colorants, Astrazon Remazol Brilliant Blue and Direct Red, present in low concentrations in aqueous solutions. The physicochemical properties of adsorbents at the surfaces of LDH, as well as the properties of the solutions containing the dyes control how the colorants are removed. Both fresh and calcined LDH were effective in the removal experiments, with effectiveness ranging from 50 to 100%. Analysis of kinetic data demonstrated that the adsorption process fitted the pseudo-second-order model better than the pseudo-first order model, information which is useful for system design in the treatment of wastes from the textile industry. Parameters such as pH of solutions and concentration of dye in solution influenced mainly the initial adsorption rate.

Interaction of Refractory Dibenzothiophenes and Polymerizable Structures

We carried out first principles calculations to show that polymerizable structures containing hydroxyl (alcoholic chain) and amino groups are suitable to form stable complexes with dibenzothiophene (DBT) and its alkyl derivates. These sulfur pollutants are very difficult to eliminate through traditional catalytic processes. Spontaneous and exothermic interactions at 0 K primarily occur through the formation of stable complexes of organosulfur molecules with monomeric structures by hydrogen bonds. The bonds are formed between the sulfur atom and the hydrogen of the hydroxyl group; additional hydrogen bonds are formed between the hydrogen atoms of the organosulfur molecule and the nitrogen atoms of the monomers. We vary the number of methylene groups in the alcoholic chain containing the hydroxyl group of the monomer and find that the monomeric structure with four methylene groups has the best selectivity towards the interaction with the methyl derivates with reference to the interaction with DBT. Even this study does not consider solvent and competitive adsorption effects; our results show that monomeric structures containing amino and hydroxyl groups can be used to develop adsorbents to eliminate organosulfur pollutants from oil and its derivates.

Toward wafer-scale patterning of freestanding intermetallic nanowires

Individual metal alloy nanowires of constant diameter and high aspect ratio have previously been self-assembled at selected locations on atomic force microscope (AFM) probes by the method reported in Yazdanpanah et al (2005 J. Appl. Phys. 98 073510). This process relies on the room temperature crystallization of an ordered phase of silver-gallium. A parallel version of this method has been implemented in which a substrate, either an array of micromachined tips (similar to tips on AFM probes) or a lithographically patterned planar substrate, is brought into contact with a continuous, nearly planar film of melted gallium. In several runs, freestanding wires are fabricated with diameters of 40-400 nm, lengths of 4-80 µm, growth rates of 80-170 nm s( - 1) and, most significantly, with yields of up to 97% in an array of 422 growth sites. These results demonstrate the feasibility of developing a batch manufacturing process for the decoration of wafers of AFM tips and other structures with selectively patterned freestanding nanowires.

The Intramolecular Pressure and the Extension of the Critical Point’s Influence Zone on the Order Parameter

The critical point affects the coexistence behavior of the vapor-liquid equilibrium densities. The length of the critical influence zone is under debate because for some properties, like shear viscosity, the extension is only a few degrees, while for others, such as the density order parameter, the critical influence zone covers up to hundreds of degrees below the critical temperature. Here we show that, for ethane, the experimental critical influence zone covers a wide zone of tens of degrees (below the critical temperature) down to a transition temperature, at which the apparent critical influence zone vanishes, and the transition temperature can be predicted through a pressure analysis of the coexisting bulk liquid phase, using a simple molecular potential. The liquid phases within the apparent critical influence zone show low densities, making them behave internally like their corresponding vapor phases. Therefore, Molecular Dynamics simulations reveal that the experimentally observed wide extension of the critical influence zone is the result of a vapor-like effect due to low bulk liquid phase densities.

Reactivity of Alkyldibenzothiophenes Using Theoretical Descriptors

Theoretical calculations of the reactivity of dibenzothiophene and its methyl, dimethyl, and trimethyl derivatives show that local reactivity descriptors reproduce their experimental desulfurization reactivity trend if the first desulfurization step involves directly the sulfur atom, which only occurs if the sulfur atom is blocked at most by one methyl group. In the series of molecules 4,7-dimethyldibenzothiophene, ,4,7-trimethyldibenzothiophene (), the most reactive molecule is 2,4,7-trimethyldibenzothiophene, and local descriptors show that the reactivity is linked to the activity of the sulfur atom, which is higher in 2,4,7-trimethyldibenzothiophene due to the position of the third methyl substitute, located in the para position with respect to the carbon bonded to the sulfur atom. The electrostatic potential of 2,4,7-trimethyldibenzothiophene shows one effective adsorption site, while 1,4,7-trimethyldibenzothiophene and 3,4,7-trimethyldibenzothiophene have more sites, contributing to the higher reactivity of 2,4,7-trimethyldibenzothiophene. The index of reactivity of other descriptors was evaluated and the effect of the position of the methyl substituents on adsorption parameters, as the dipole moment and the atomic charges were also studied.

Interfacial properties of the ionic liquid [bmim][triflate] over a wide range of temperatures

We carried out molecular dynamics simulations of the liquid/vacuum equilibrium of the ionic liquid [bmim][triflate] in a wide range of temperatures (323.15 to 573.15 K). The results showed liquid phases with high densities even at temperatures close to the decomposition temperature of the liquid. The density and surface tension behaviors are linear across this wide range of temperatures, which is an extension of the behaviors of these systems at low temperatures, where these properties have been experimentally measured. The interfacial region shows peaks of adsorption of the ions; they are ordered, with the alkyl chains of the [bmim] cations pointing out of the liquid, and the tailing angle of the chains becomes 90° at higher temperatures. The alkyl chains are part of the outermost interfacial region, where intra- and intermolecular tangential forces are in equilibrium; thus, they do not contribute to the total surface tension. Unlike simpler organic liquids, the surface tension is composed of positive normal contributions of intermolecular interactions; these are almost in equilibrium with the negative normal contributions of intramolecular interactions, which are mainly vibrations of the distance and the angle of valence. The pressure profiles show that the molecules are in ‘crushed’ conformations internally in the bulk liquid and even more so in the normal direction at the interface. The total pressure profiles show values with physical meaning, where the tangential peaks show higher values than normal pressures and give rise to the surface tension. Short cutoff radii for the calculation of intermolecular forces (less than 16.5 A) produce a system that is not mechanically stable in the region of the bulk liquid (confirmed by radial distribution function calculations); this produces a difference between the normal pressure and the average of the tangential pressures, which affects the calculation of the surface tension due to overestimation by up to 20% when using the global expression, which is extensively used for the calculation of surface tension. The use of a sufficiently long cutoff radius avoids these mechanical balance problems.