GOALI: Molecular modeling of confined nano-phases: pressure enhancement, diffusion and electrical double layers

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Abstract1160515Gubbins, Keith E.This GOALI project involves university-industry collaboration between researchers at North Carolina State University (NCSU) and at Quantachrome Instruments, a leading maker of instruments for characterizing nano-structured materials. The aim of this project is to investigate the effects of confinement in nanoporous materials on pressure enhancement, diffusion, phase changes and supercapacitor performance, using realistic atomistic models of the materials. Fundamental understanding of these effects will assist in optimization of the materials for specific applications. The materials to be studied are carbide-derived carbons, mesoporous carbons and oxides, and hierarchical carbons and oxides. Applications of particular interest are the use of these materials for diffusional separations, chemical reactions and supercapacitors. This project will involve cooperative research with researchers in Zhejiang University in Hangzhou (Professors Wang Qi and Liu Ying-Chun and coworkers) in China on diffusion in nanopores; the University of Hong Kong (Professor Kwong-Yu Chan and coworkers) on carbon-based supercapacitors; and Shinshu University (Professor Katsumi Kaneko) on pressure enhancement effects. Preparation of these materials and experimental studies of structure and adsorption on them will be performed by researchers at Quantachrome Instruments and University of Hong Kong, and this data will be provided to the NCSU researchers. Quantachrome scientists will also offer advice on directions for the modeling work carried out at NCSU. The NCSU researchers will develop and test new simulation methodologies to model these materials and study effects of confinement on the properties of confined nano-phases. In particular, Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations will be carried out to study adsorption, pressure enhancement and diffusion in these materials. In the case of the carbon materials, molecular simulations will be carried out to determine their use as supercapacitors, including studies of capacitance, power density and diffusion in the pore structures, with the aim of understanding the influence of pore design on performance. Intellectual Merit. The realistic models that are being developed in this work will make possible fundamental investigations of the influence of confinement and nature of the material on adsorption, phase changes, diffusion, reactions and electrode performance. Recently, we have demonstrated that very high pressures (tens of thousands of bars) exist in confined nanophases within carbons and silicas, and studies of this effect are expected to provide new insight into many confinement effects. Broader Impact. Improved understanding of the behavior of nano-phases confined within these novel nano-porous materials will impact a broad range of technologies, and is essential to the design of new biological and chemical sensors, nano-reactors, energy storage media, electrodes for fuel cells and supercapacitors, and nano-structured catalysts. The graduate students working on this project will learn modern multi-scale modeling methods, and will gain experience of international cooperative research through our active collaborations in this area with the researchers in China, Hong Kong and Japan.