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Kumar S, Govind Rajan A. Predicting Quantum-Mechanical Partial Charges in Arbitrarily Long Boron Nitride Nanotubes to Accurately Simulate Nanoscale Water Transport. J Chem Theory Comput 2024; 20:3298-3307. [PMID: 38588340 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.4c00080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/10/2024]
Abstract
Single-walled boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) have been explored for various applications, ranging from water desalination to osmotic power harvesting. However, no simulation work so far has modeled the changes in the partial charge distribution when a flat sheet is rolled into a tube, hindering the ability to perform accurate molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of water flow through BNNTs. To address this knowledge gap, we employ electronic density functional theory (DFT) calculations to precisely estimate quantum-mechanically derived partial charges on boron (B) and nitrogen (N) atoms in BNNTs of varying lengths and diameters. We observe a spatially varying charge distribution inside both armchair and zigzag nanotubes of finite lengths. Performing DFT calculations for longer BNNTs is computationally intractable, even with state-of-the-art computing resources. To solve this issue, we devise a charge assignment scheme to predict partial charges for longer BNNTs using DFT data for shorter nanotubes, thus overcoming the need to perform more expensive DFT calculations. We show that these charges reproduce the electrostatic potential predicted from first-principles simulations. Subsequently, we carried out MD simulations to predict the effect of the charge distribution inside BNNTs on water flow enhancement via them. We find that using uniform charges leads to an underprediction in flow enhancement, as compared to using quantum-mechanical charges for both armchair and zigzag BNNTs. We also incorporate atomic vibrations into our simulations and show that these vibrations lead to a reduction in the water flow through aperiodic BNNTs. Our work demonstrates the requirement of a quantum-mechanical charge assignment scheme for BNNTs and evolves a framework to assign charges to nanotubes of arbitrary length, thus allowing realistic MD simulations of long BNNTs using accurate partial charges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiv Kumar
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560012, India
| | - Ananth Govind Rajan
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560012, India
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Verma AK, Sharma BB. Experimental and Theoretical Insights into Interfacial Properties of 2D Materials for Selective Water Transport Membranes: A Critical Review. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2024; 40:7812-7834. [PMID: 38587122 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.4c00061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/09/2024]
Abstract
Interfacial properties, such as wettability and friction, play critical roles in nanofluidics and desalination. Understanding the interfacial properties of two-dimensional (2D) materials is crucial in these applications due to the close interaction between liquids and the solid surface. The most important interfacial properties of a solid surface include the water contact angle, which quantifies the extent of interactions between the surface and water, and the water slip length, which determines how much faster water can flow on the surface beyond the predictions of continuum fluid mechanics. This Review seeks to elucidate the mechanism that governs the interfacial properties of diverse 2D materials, including transition metal dichalcogenides (e.g., MoS2), graphene, and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). Our work consolidates existing experimental and computational insights into 2D material synthesis and modeling and explores their interfacial properties for desalination. We investigated the capabilities of density functional theory and molecular dynamics simulations in analyzing the interfacial properties of 2D materials. Specifically, we highlight how MD simulations have revolutionized our understanding of these properties, paving the way for their effective application in desalination. This Review of the synthesis and interfacial properties of 2D materials unlocks opportunities for further advancement and optimization in desalination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashutosh Kumar Verma
- School of Chemical Engineering, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma 74078, United States
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Yang F, McQuain AD, Kumari A, Gundurao D, Liu H, Li L. Understanding the Intrinsic Water Wettability of Hexagonal Boron Nitride. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2024; 40:6445-6452. [PMID: 38483123 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c04035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/27/2024]
Abstract
The water wettability of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) has attracted a lot of research interest in the past 15 years. Experimentally, the static water contact angle (WCA) has been widely utilized to characterize the intrinsic water wettability of hBN. In the current study, we have investigated the effect of airborne hydrocarbons and defects on both static and dynamic WCAs of hBN. Our results showed that the static WCA is impacted by defects, which suggests that previously reported static WCAs do not characterize the intrinsic water wettability of hBN since the state-of-the-art hBN samples always have relatively high defect density. Instead, we found that the advancing WCA of freshly exfoliated hBN is not affected by the defects and airborne hydrocarbons. As a result, the advancing WCA on freshly exfoliated hBN, determined to be 79 ± 3°, best represents the intrinsic water wettability of hBN. A qualitative model has been proposed to describe the effect of airborne hydrocarbons and defects on the static and dynamic WCA of hBN, which is well supported by the experimental results. The finding here has important implications for the water wettability of 2D materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fan Yang
- Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, United States
| | - Alex D McQuain
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, United States
| | - Anumita Kumari
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, United States
| | - Dhruthi Gundurao
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, United States
| | - Haitao Liu
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, United States
| | - Lei Li
- Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, United States
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Luo S, Misra RP, Blankschtein D. Water Electric Field Induced Modulation of the Wetting of Hexagonal Boron Nitride: Insights from Multiscale Modeling of Many-Body Polarization. ACS NANO 2024; 18:1629-1646. [PMID: 38169482 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c09811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
Understanding the behavior of water contacting two-dimensional materials, such as hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), is important in practical applications, including seawater desalination and energy harvesting. Water, being a polar solvent, can strongly polarize the hBN surface via the electric fields that it generates. However, there is a lack of molecular-level understanding about the role of polarization effects at the hBN/water interface, including its effect on the wetting properties of water. In this study, we develop a theoretical framework that introduces an all-atomistic polarizable force field to accurately model the interactions of water molecules with hBN surfaces. The force field is then utilized to self-consistently describe the water-induced polarization of hBN using the classical Drude oscillator model, including predicting the hBN-water binding energies which are found to be in excellent agreement with diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) predictions. By carrying out molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we demonstrate that the polarizable force field yields a water contact angle on multilayered hBN which is in close agreement with the recent experimentally reported values. Conversely, an implicit modeling of the hBN-water polarization energy utilizing a Lennard-Jones (LJ) potential, a commonly utilized approximation in previous MD simulation studies, leads to a considerably lower water contact angle. This difference in the predicted contact angles is attributed to the significant energy-entropy compensation resulting from the incorporation of polarization effects at the hBN-water interface. Our work highlights the importance of self-consistently modeling the hBN-water polarization energy and offers insights into the wetting-related interfacial phenomena of water on polarizable materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuang Luo
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Rahul Prasanna Misra
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Daniel Blankschtein
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
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Feng Z, Lei Z, Yao Y, Liu J, Wu B, Ouyang W. Anisotropic Interfacial Force Field for Interfaces of Water with Hexagonal Boron Nitride. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2023; 39:18198-18207. [PMID: 38063463 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c01612] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2023]
Abstract
This study introduces an anisotropic interfacial potential that provides an accurate description of the van der Waals (vdW) interactions between water and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) at their interface. Benchmarked against the strongly constrained and appropriately normed functional, the developed force field demonstrates remarkable consistency with reference data sets, including binding energy curves and sliding potential energy surfaces for various configurations involving a water molecule adsorbed atop the h-BN surface. These findings highlight the significant improvement achieved by the developed force field in empirically describing the anisotropic vdW interactions of the water/h-BN heterointerfaces. Utilizing this anisotropic force field, molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate that atomically flat, pristine h-BN exhibits inherent hydrophobicity. However, when atomic-step surface roughness is introduced, the wettability of h-BN undergoes a significant change, leading to a hydrophilic nature. The calculated water contact angle (WCA) for the roughened h-BN surface is approximately 64°, which closely aligns with experimental WCA values ranging from 52° to 67°. These findings indicate the high probability of the presence of atomic steps on the surfaces of the experimental h-BN samples, emphasizing the need for further experimental verification. The development of the anisotropic interfacial force field for accurately describing interactions at the water/h-BN heterointerfaces is a significant advancement in accurately simulating the wettability of two-dimensional (2D) materials, offering a reliable tool for studying the dynamic and transport properties of water at these interfaces, with implications for materials science and nanotechnology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhicheng Feng
- Department of Engineering Mechanics, School of Civil Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430072, China
| | - Zhangke Lei
- Department of Engineering Mechanics, School of Civil Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430072, China
| | - Yuanpeng Yao
- Department of Engineering Mechanics, School of Civil Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430072, China
| | - Jianxin Liu
- Department of Engineering Mechanics, School of Civil Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430072, China
| | - Bozhao Wu
- Department of Engineering Mechanics, School of Civil Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430072, China
| | - Wengen Ouyang
- Department of Engineering Mechanics, School of Civil Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430072, China
- State Key Laboratory of Water Resources & Hydropower Engineering Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430072, China
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Zabihzadeh Khajavi M, Nikiforov A, Nilkar M, Devlieghere F, Ragaert P, De Geyter N. Degradable Plasma-Polymerized Poly(Ethylene Glycol)-Like Coating as a Matrix for Food-Packaging Applications. NANOMATERIALS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 13:2774. [PMID: 37887925 PMCID: PMC10609115 DOI: 10.3390/nano13202774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2023] [Revised: 10/06/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023]
Abstract
Currently, there is considerable interest in seeking an environmentally friendly technique that is neither thermally nor organic solvent-dependent for producing advanced polymer films for food-packaging applications. Among different approaches, plasma polymerization is a promising method that can deposit biodegradable coatings on top of polymer films. In this study, an atmospheric-pressure aerosol-assisted plasma deposition method was employed to develop a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-like coating, which can act as a potential matrix for antimicrobial agents, by envisioning controlled-release food-packaging applications. Different plasma operating parameters, including the input power, monomer flow rate, and gap between the edge of the plasma head and substrate, were optimized to produce a PEG-like coating with a desirable water stability level and that can be biodegradable. The findings revealed that increased distance between the plasma head and substrate intensified gas-phase nucleation and diluted the active plasma species, which in turn led to the formation of a non-conformal rough coating. Conversely, at short plasma-substrate distances, smooth conformal coatings were obtained. Furthermore, at low input powers (<250 W), the chemical structure of the precursor was mostly preserved with a high retention of C-O functional groups due to limited monomer fragmentation. At the same time, these coatings exhibit low stability in water, which could be attributed to their low cross-linking degree. Increasing the power to 350 W resulted in the loss of the PEG-like chemical structure, which is due to the enhanced monomer fragmentation at high power. Nevertheless, owing to the enhanced cross-linking degree, these coatings were more stable in water. Finally, it could be concluded that a moderate input power (250-300 W) should be applied to obtain an acceptable tradeoff between the coating stability and PEG resemblance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maryam Zabihzadeh Khajavi
- Research Unit Food Microbiology and Food Preservation, Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; (F.D.); (P.R.)
- Research Unit Plasma Technology, Department of Applied Physics, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; (A.N.); (M.N.); (N.D.G.)
| | - Anton Nikiforov
- Research Unit Plasma Technology, Department of Applied Physics, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; (A.N.); (M.N.); (N.D.G.)
| | - Maryam Nilkar
- Research Unit Plasma Technology, Department of Applied Physics, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; (A.N.); (M.N.); (N.D.G.)
| | - Frank Devlieghere
- Research Unit Food Microbiology and Food Preservation, Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; (F.D.); (P.R.)
| | - Peter Ragaert
- Research Unit Food Microbiology and Food Preservation, Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; (F.D.); (P.R.)
| | - Nathalie De Geyter
- Research Unit Plasma Technology, Department of Applied Physics, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; (A.N.); (M.N.); (N.D.G.)
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