Theoretical studies on Si-C bond cleavage in organosilane precursors during polycondensation to organosilica hybrids.

Molecular orbital theory calculations were carried out to predict the occurrence of Si-C bond cleavage in various organosilane precursors during polycondensation to organosilica hybrids under acidic and basic conditions. On the basis of proposed mechanisms for cleavage of the Si-C bonds, the proton affinity (PA) of the carbon atom at the ipso-position and the PA of the carbanion generated after Si-C cleavage were chosen as indices for Si-C bond stability under acidic and basic conditions, respectively. The indices were calculated using a density functional theory (DFT) method for model compounds of organosilane precursors (R-Si(OH)(3)) having organic groups (R) of benzene (Ph), biphenyl (Bp), terphenyl (Tph), naphthalene (Nph), N-methylcarbazole (MCz), and anthracene (Ant). The orders for the predicted stability of the Si-C bond were Ph > Nph > Bp > Ant > Tph > MCz for acidic conditions and Ph > MCz > Bp > Nph > Tph > Ant for basic conditions. These behaviors were primarily in agreement with experimental results where cleavage of the Si-C bonds occurred for Tph (both acidic and basic), MCz (acidic), and Ant (basic). The Si-C bond cleavage of organosilane precursors during polycondensation is qualitatively predicted from these indices based on our theoretical approach.

Nature of proton dynamics in a polymer electrolyte membrane, nafion: a first-principles molecular dynamics study.

First-principles molecular dynamics simulations have been carried out to investigate the nature of proton dynamics in Nafion, a representative polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) widely used in PEM fuel cells. From the trajectories of the simulations, diffusion coefficients for the protonic defects were calculated to be 0.3 x 10(-5) cm(2) s(-1) and 7.1 x 10(-5) cm(2) s(-1) for lambda = 4.25 and 12.75, respectively, where lambda denotes hydration levels inside Nafion defined as a number of water molecules per sulfonic group. Our simulations show that proton hopping probability does not depend much on the water content inside Nafion. This finding indicates that the classical vehicular (or en masse) diffusion model, which has been employed to account for the slow diffusion process of protons in low water-content Nafion, is an oversimplification and does not correctly describe proton dynamics. Furthermore, it is found that difference in the value of the proton diffusion coefficient with respect to water content inside Nafion is related to the different character of proton hopping occurring in the water hydrogen bond network. When the water content is low, the proton hopping occurs in a manner that does not contribute constructively to proton mobility, while when the water content is high, it occurs in a manner which is beneficial to overall proton mobility. Such a different nature of proton hoppings arises mainly from the difference in the connectivity of water hydrogen bond network. Our results broadly support earlier simulation studies and provide the molecular level origin of properties arising from the proton dynamics in Nafion.

Lattice Boltzmann simulations for proton transport in 2-D model channels of Nafion.

Proton conductance in a 2-D channel with a slab-like structure was studied to verify that the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) can be used as a simulation tool for proton conduction in a Nafion membrane, which is a mesoscopic system with a highly disordered porous structure. Diffusion resulting from a concentration gradient and migration by an electrostatic force were considered as the origins of proton transport. The electrostatic force acting on a proton was computed by solving the Poisson equation. The proton concentration in the membrane is expressed as a continuous function and the sulfonic charge is placed discretely. The space-averaged conductance of protons in a nonequilibrium stationary state was evaluated as a function of the structural parameters: namely, channel width and distribution of the sulfonic groups. The resulting space-averaged conductance deviates from the bulk values, depending particularly on the sulfonic group distribution. Details of the simulation scheme are described and the applicability of the present scheme to real membranes is discussed.

Nature of water transport and electro-osmosis in nafion: insights from first-principles molecular dynamics simulations under an electric field.

The effects of water content on water transport and electro-osmosis in a representative polymer electrolyte membrane, Nafion, are investigated in detail by means of first-principles molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in the presence of a homogeneous electric field. We have directly evaluated electro-osmotic drag coefficients (the number of water molecules cotransported with proton conduction) from the trajectories of the first-principles MD simulations and also explicitly evaluated factors that contribute to the electro-osmotic drag coefficients. In agreement with previously reported experiments, our calculations show virtually constant values ( approximately 1) of the electro-osmotic drag coefficients for both low and high water content states. Detailed comparisons of each factor contributing to the drag coefficient reveal that an increase in water content increases the occurrence of the Grotthuss-like effective proton transport process, whose contribution results in a decrease in the electro-osmotic drag coefficient. At the same time, an environment that is favorable for the Grotthuss-like effective proton transport process is also favorable for the transport of water arising from water transport occurring beyond the hydration shell around the protons, whose contribution results in an increase in the electro-osmotic drag coefficient. Conversely, an environment that is not favorable for proton conduction is also not favorable for water transport. As a result, the electro-osmotic drag coefficient shows virtually identical values with respect to change in the water content.

Kinetic lattice Boltzmann method for microscale gas flows: issues on boundary condition, relaxation time, and regularization.

It is well known that the Navier-Stokes equations cannot adequately describe gas flows in the transition and free-molecular regimes. In these regimes, the Boltzmann equation (BE) of kinetic theory is invoked to govern the flows. However, this equation cannot be solved easily, either by analytical techniques or by numerical methods. Hence, in order to efficiently maneuver around this equation for modeling microscale gas flows, a kinetic lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) has been introduced in recent years. This method is regarded as a numerical approach for solving the BE in discrete velocity space with Gauss-Hermite quadrature. In this paper, a systematic description of the kinetic LBM, including the lattice Boltzmann equation, the diffuse-scattering boundary condition for gas-surface interactions, and definition of the relaxation time, is provided. To capture the nonlinear effects due to the high-order moments and wall boundaries, an effective relaxation time and a modified regularization procedure of the nonequilibrium part of the distribution function are further presented based on previous work [Guo et al., J. Appl. Phys. 99, 074903 (2006); Shan et al., J. Fluid Mech. 550, 413 (2006)]. The capability of the kinetic LBM of simulating microscale gas flows is illustrated based on the numerical investigations of micro Couette and force-driven Poiseuille flows.

Equation of motion for coarse-grained simulation based on microscopic description.

We have derived an equation of motion for coarse-grained particles by using a projection operator. Because the derived coarse-grained equation is based on microscopic description, it can be the basis for models of various coarse-grained simulations. We show that by substitution of random forces into fluctuating forces in the coarse-grained equation, the equations for Brownian dynamics and dissipative particle dynamics are reproduced.

Mesoscopic simulation of the crossing dynamics at an entanglement point of surfactant threadlike micelles.

The crossing dynamics at an entanglement point of surfactant threadlike micelles in an aqueous solution was studied using a mesoscopic simulation method, dissipative particle dynamics, with a coarse-grained surfactant model. The possibility of a phantom crossing, which is the relaxation mechanism for the pronounced viscoelastic behavior of surfactant threadlike micellar solution, was investigated. When two threadlike micelles were encountered at an entanglement point under the condition close to thermal equilibrium, they fused to form a four-armed branch point. Then, a phantom crossing reaction occurred occasionally, or one micelle was cut down at the branch point. Increasing the repulsive forces between hydrophilic parts of the surfactants, fusion occurred less and the threadlike micelle was frequently broken down at an entanglement point. In these three schemes (a phantom crossing cut down at the branch point, and break down at the entanglement point), the breakage occurs at somewhere along the threadlike micelle. The breakage is considered as an essential process in the relaxation mechanism, and a phantom crossing can be seen as a special case of these processes. To explain the experimental evidence that a terminal of threadlike micelles is scarcely observed, a mechanism was also proposed where the generated terminal merges into the connected micelle part between two entanglement points due to the thermal motion.

Accurate calculation of core-electron binding energies: multireference perturbation treatment.

Multireference perturbation theory (MRPT) with multiconfigurational self-consistent field (MCSCF) reference functions is applied to the calculations of core-electron binding energies (CEBEs) of atoms and molecules. Orbital relaxations in a core-ionized state and electron correlation are both taken into account in a conventional MCSCF-MRPT procedure. In the MCSCF calculation, the target core ionized state is directly optimized as an excited state and this treatment can completely prevent a variational collapse. Multireference Moller-Plesset perturbation theory and multiconfigurational self-consistent field reference quasidegenerated perturbation theory were used to treat electron correlation. The present method quite accurately reproduced the 1s CEBEs of CH4, NH3, H2O, and FH; the average deviation from the experimental data is 0.11 eV using Ahlrichs' VTZ basis set. The C 1s and O 1s CEBEs of formic acid and acetic acid were calculated and the results are consistent with the bonding characters of the atoms in these molecules. The present procedure can also be applied to CEBEs of higher angular momentum orbitals by including spin-orbit coupling. The calculated CEBEs of Ar 2p, HCl 2p, Kr 3d, and HBr 3d are in reasonable agreement with the available experimental values. In the calculation of the 3d CEBEs, a relativistic correction significantly improves the agreements. The effect of polarization functions is also discussed.