Surendra K. Jain

Structure of saccharose-based carbon and transport of confined fluids: hybrid reverse Monte Carlo reconstruction and simulation studies

We present results of the reconstruction of a saccharose-based activated carbon (CS1000a) using hybrid reverse Monte Carlo (HRMC) simulation, recently proposed by Opletal et al. [1]. Interaction between carbon atoms in the simulation is modeled by an environment dependent interaction potential (EDIP) [2,3]. The reconstructed structure shows predominance of sp2 over sp3 bonding, while a significant proportion of sp hybrid bonding is also observed. We also calculated a ring distribution and geometrical pore size distribution of the model developed. The latter is compared with that obtained from argon adsorption at 87 K using our recently proposed characterization procedure [4], the finite wall thickness (FWT) model. Further, we determine self-diffusivities of argon and nitrogen in the constructed carbon as functions of loading. It is found that while there is a maximum in the diffusivity with respect to loading, as previously observed by Pikunic et al. [5], diffusivities in the present work are 10 times larger than those obtained in the prior work, consistent with the larger pore size as well as higher porosity of the activated saccharose carbon studied here.

Adsorption, structure and dynamics of fluids in ordered and disordered models of porous carbons

Grand Canonical Monte Carlo and Molecular Dynamics simulations are used to investigate the adsorption and dynamics of argon in ordered and disordered models of porous carbons. The ordered porous carbon (model A) is a regular slit pore made up of graphene sheets. The disordered porous carbon (model B) is a structural model that reproduces the morphological (pore shape) and topological (pore connectivity) disorders of saccharose-based porous carbons. Three pore widths, H = 7, 11, and 15 Å, are selected for model A; they correspond to the smaller, mean, and larger pore sizes of model B. The filling pressures for the graphite slit pores are lower than those for the disordered porous carbon. It is also found that model A is not able to capture the behaviour of the isosteric heat of adsorption of model B. For all pressures, the confined phase in model A is composed of well-defined layers, which crystallize into hexagonal 2D crystals after complete filling of the pores. In contrast, the structure of argon in the disordered porous carbon remains liquid-like overall. It is also found that the slit pore model cannot reproduce the dynamics of argon in the disordered porous carbon. While the self-diffusivity of argon in model A decreases with increasing loading, it exhibits a maximum for model B. Such a non-monotonic behaviour of the self-diffusivity for the disordered porous carbon can be explained by the surface (energetic) heterogeneities of the material.

Stability of porous carbon structures obtained from reverse monte carlo using tight binding and bond order hamiltonians

The constrained Reverse Monte-Carlo (RMC) technique [1,2] was used to generate atomic configurations of disordered microporous carbons in a previous work. However, a carbon structure obtained from RMC is a result of the fitting to some structural data such as obtained from X-ray diffraction; it does not guarantee the stability of the resulting models when a realistic interatomic potential is used. In the present work, we studied the stability of these RMC structures using canonical Monte-Carlo simulations. Two different descriptions of the carbon-carbon and carbon-hydrogen interactions are used, both encompassing the bonding processes characteristic of carbon chemistry. The first approach is based on a bond-order potential while the second considers a tight binding model. We found that the structures obtained from RMC simulations undergo local structural changes upon relaxation, however the porous structure of the models remains intact.

Adsorption and Structure of Argon in Activated Porous Carbons

Molecular simulations are used to investigate the adsorption and structure of argon in ordered and disordered models of porous carbons. The ordered porous carbon (model A) is an assembly of regular slit pores of different sizes, while the disordered porous carbon (model B) is a structural model that reproduces the complex pore shape and pore connectivity of saccharose-based porous carbons. The same pore size distribution is used for models A and B so that we are able to estimate, for similar confinement effects, how the disorder of the porous material affects the adsorption and structure of the confined fluid. Adsorption of argon at 77.4 K in the two models is studied using Grand Canonical Monte Carlo simulations. The structure of the confined fluid is analyzed using crystalline bond order parameters and positional or bond orientational pair correlation functions. The filling pressure for the assembly of slit pores is much lower than that for the disordered porous carbon. It is also found that the isosteric heat of adsorption for the ordered porous model overestimates that for the disordered porous model. The results suggest that the agreement between models A and B would be improved if the same density of carbon atoms were used in these two models. Strong layering of Ar is observed at all pressures for model A. The confined phase is composed of liquid-like layers at low-pressures, which crystallize into well-defined hexagonal 2D crystals after complete filling of the pores. The structure of argon in the disordered porous carbon strongly departs from that in the slit pore model. Although its structure remains liquid-like overall, argon confined in model B is composed of both crystalline clusters and amorphous (solid or liquid) nano-domains.

Molecular Modeling and Adsorption Properties of Ordered Silica-Templated CMK Mesoporous Carbons

Realistic molecular models of silica-templated CMK-1, CMK-3, and CMK-5 carbon materials have been developed by using carbon rods and carbon pipes that were obtained by adsorbing carbon in a model MCM-41 pore. The interactions between the carbon atoms with the silica matrix were described using the PN-Traz potential, and the interaction between the carbon atoms was calculated by the reactive empirical bond order (REBO) potential. Carbon rods and pipes with different thicknesses were obtained by changing the silica-carbon interaction strength, the temperature, and the chemical potential of carbon vapor adsorption. These equilibrium structures were further used to obtain the atomic models of CMK-1, CMK-3, and CMK-5 materials using the same symmetry as found in TEM pictures. These models are further refined and made more realistic by adding interconnections between the carbon rods and carbon pipes. We calculated the geometric pore size distribution of the different models of CMK-5 and found that the presence of interconnections results in some new features in the pore size distribution. Argon adsorption properties were investigated using GCMC simulations to characterize these materials at 77 K. We found that the presence of interconnection results greatly improves the agreement with available experimental data by shifting the capillary condensation to lower pressures. Adding interconnections also induces smoother adsorption/condensation isotherms, and desorption/evaporation curves show a sharp jump. These features reflex the complexity of the nanovoids in CMKs in terms of their pore morphology and topology.

STRUCTURAL MODELING OF POROUS CARBONS USING A HYBRID REVERSE MONTE CARLO METHOD

We present molecular models for 3 saccharose based carbons of different densities obtained using a Reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) protocol which incorporates an energy constraint. The radial distribution functions of the simulated models are in good agreement with experiment. Moreover, 3 and 4 member carbon rings, reported in the literature for many modeling studies of carbon, are absent or extremely rare in our final structural models. These small member rings are high energy structures and are believed to be an artifact of the usual RMC method. The presence of the energy penalty term in our simulation protocol penalizes the formation of these structures. Using a ring connectivity analysis method that we developed, we find that these atomistic models of carbons are made up of defective graphene segments twisted in a complex way. These graphene segments are largely made up of 6 carbon member rings, but also contain some 5 and 7 carbon member rings. We also found that in addition to the graphene segments there are some carbon chains which do not belong to any graphene segments. To characterize our models, we calculated the geometric pore size distribution and also simulated the adsorption of argon at 77.4 K in the models using GCMC simulations. The adsorption isotherm obtained for all three models are representative of microporous carbons.