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Flow transport in confined spaces is ubiquitous in technological processes, ranging from separation and purification of pharmaceutical ingredients by microporous membranes and drug delivery in biomedical treatment to chemical and biomass conversion in catalyst-packed reactors and carbon dioxide sequestration. In this work, we suggest a distinct pathway for enhanced liquid transport in a confined space via propelling microdroplets. These microdroplets can form spontaneously from localized liquid-liquid phase separation as a ternary mixture is diluted by a diffusing poor solvent. High speed images reveal how the microdroplets grow, break up and propel rapidly along the solid surface, with a maximal velocity up to ∼160 μm s-1, in response to a sharp concentration gradient resulting from phase separation. The microdroplet propulsion induces a replenishing flow between the walls of the confined space towards the location of phase separation, which in turn drives the mixture out of equilibrium and leads to a repeating cascade of events. Our findings on the complex and rich phenomena of propelling droplets suggest an effective approach to enhanced flow motion of multicomponent liquid mixtures within confined spaces for time effective separation and smart transport processes. This journal is

Displacing liquid in a confined space is important for technological processes, ranging from porous membrane separation to CO$_{2}$ sequestration. The liquid to be displaced usually consists of multiple components with different solubilities in the displacing liquid. Phase separation and chemical composition gradients in the liquids can influence the displacement rate. In this work, we investigate the effects of liquid composition on the displacement process of ternary liquid mixtures in a quasi-2D microchannel where liquid-liquid phase separation occurs concurrently. We focused on model ternary mixtures containing 1-octanol, ethanol, and water. These mixtures are displaced with water or with ethanol aqueous solution. The spatial distribution of subphases arising from phase separation and the displacement rates of the solution are impacted by the initial ternary solution composition. The boundary between the solution and displacing liquid changes from a defined interface to a diffusive interface as the initial 1-octanol composition in the solution is reduced. The displacement rate also varies non-linearly with the initial 1-octanol composition. The slowest displacement rate arises in the intermediate 1-octanol concentration, where a stable three-zone configuration forms at the boundary. At very low 1-octanol concentration, the displacement rate is fast, associated with droplet formation and motion driven by the chemical concentration gradients formed during phase separation. The excessive energy provided from phase separation may contribute to the enhanced displacement at intermediate to high 1-octanol concentrations, but not at the low 1-octanol concentration with enhancement from induced flow in confinement. The knowledge gained from this study highlights the importance of manipulating phase separation to enhance mass transport in confinement for a wide range of separation processes., This is the authors' submitted version of the manuscript to Energy & Fuels

This article is the first of three projected IUPAC Technical Reports resulting from IUPAC Project 2011-037-2-100 (Reference Materials for Phase Equilibrium Studies). The goal of this project is to select reference systems with critically evaluated property values for the validation of instruments and techniques used in phase equilibrium studies of mixtures. This report proposes seven systems for liquid–liquid equilibrium studies, covering the four most common categories of binary mixtures: aqueous systems of moderate solubility, non-aqueous systems, systems with low solubility, and systems with ionic liquids. For each system, the available literature sources, accepted data, smoothing equations, and estimated uncertainties are given.

International audience; Thiophenes are an important class of moleculesinfields as diverse as petrochemistry, molecular electronics, andoptoelectronics. Thiophenic submolecular motifs are thought toplay a role in molecular association and nanoaggregationphenomena in both pure materials and natural and syntheticmixtures. Vibrational (infrared and Raman) spectroscopyprovides the means to characterize these species. In this workfar-infrared photoacoustic and low-frequency Raman spectra ofa series of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons containing sulfur have been measured and interpreted using DFT calculations basedon a perturbational-variational method coupled with potential truncation. The approach and outcomes illustrate how inter- andintramolecular vibrations for thiophenic systems in single and multicomponent mixtures can be discriminated. This work offersthe perspective to search the inter- and intramolecular signatures of the main submolecular motifs and heteroelements postulatedas being present in the asphaltenes.

International audience; Raman and photoacoustic (PA) infrared spectra of fluorene and four derivatives (2,3-benzofluorene, 2-methylfluorene, 2-ethylfluorene and 1,8-dimethylfluorene) were recorded and analyzed in this investigation. Mid-and far-infrared PA spectra were examined from about 2000 to 100 cm −1. The Raman spectra spanned the same wavenumber range. Observed bands in both PA and Raman spectra were compared with DFT (harmonic) and variational (anharmonic) calculations, and with published spectra. The DFT calculations provided single-molecule frequencies, whereas the variational method yielded results for both monomeric and dimeric species. Many previously unknown bands, including numerous features due to combination and overtone transitions, were identified and assigned in this work.

International audience; The far-infrared spectra of the aromatic hydrocarbons tetracene and pentacene have been calculated using a perturbational-variational method coupled with potential truncation. This shortening of the potential enabled accurate vibration calculations for these large molecules and their respective dimers. Thus, it was possible to identify all IR bands obtained experimentally in the far-IR range by Michaelian et al., as well as to differentiate bands resulting from intermolecular and intramolecular modes of vibration separately, and combined intermolecular + intramolecular vibration modes. Far-IR spectra for smaller acene family members, naphthalene and anthracene, were also computed, and trends in intermolecular vibrations, for the acene family as a whole, were identified. The results obtained illustrate the quality and the detail of the insights realized by interrogating experimental spectra using high-precision, unscaled quantum mechanics computational approaches, and provide a benchmark for future work targeting identification of dominant molecular motifs and intermolecular association phenomena arising in ill-defined hydrocarbons including asphaltenes based on IR and Raman spectral decomposition.

Straight or slightly curved ice scours are found in thin glacilacustrine sediment of eastern Lake Iroquois, especially near the crest of an escarpment in Prince Edward County. They are large (to 3.57 km long and 174 m wide), shallow (about 1 m deep) and oriented in a nearly westerly direction. Irregular ridges of sediment have been pushed up along the sides and at the western end of some scours. Bedrock is near the ground surface, but had little influence on the formation of the scours. Based on their shape, location and pattern, we conclude that the scours were most likely formed in shallow water of the short-lived Sydney phase of Lake Iroquois by lake ice driven by prevailing northeasterly winds from the retreating Laurentide Ice Sheet., On trouve des sillons glaciels, rectilignes ou courbes, dans des sédiments lacustres de l'est du Lac Iroquois, en particulier près du sommet d'un escarpement dans le comté de Prince Edward. Ces sillons sont larges (jusqu'à 3,57 km de longueur et 174 m de largeur), peu profonds (environ 1 m) et orientés vers l'ouest. Des bourrelets irréguliers de sédiments apparaissent en bordure et à l'extrémité ouest de quelques dépressions. Le substratrum affleure presque, mais a eu peu d'influence sur la formation des sillons. En se fondant sur leur forme, leur emplacement et leur agencement, on en conclut que les sillons ont été formés dans les eaux peu profondes du Lac Iroquois au cours de la courte phase de Sydney, par les glaces du lac poussées par les vents dominants du nord-est, en provenance de l'Inlandsis laurentidien alors en retrait., 1EZlOBbIE B0P03Zlbl B HAHOCAX 3AMEP3lilErO HP0KE3CK0r0 03EPA. TPAOCTBO nPMHU 3ZtBAPZl. BOCTOMHbM OHTAPHO. B TOHKHX JieaOBblX HaHOCaX B BOCTOi-lHOH HacTH Hpok-e3Ckoro 03epa ocoôeHHO pa/ioM c rpefiHeM KpyToro ck'JioHa rpa(|)CTBa flpnnu dnsapn MOAHO na6^ioziaTb npSMbie tum cnerka HSBHBaiolilnecn .neaoBbie 6opo3AU. OHM HMeioT fkyibunie pa3Mepw (no 3.57 KM B JWHHy H 174 M B mnpnHyi. MCAKM H opueH TnpoBanbi npenMylilecTBeHHO Ha 3anaa. HepeperyjiapHbie rpefJHH HaHocoB HaxoflflT-CJi no fjoKaM H B 3anaziHbix OKOHLiaHiiax HeKOTopwx 6opo3/j. HecMOTpa Ha TO. MTO nopo/ia HaxoziHTCfi 6^H3KO OT noBepxHocTH rpyHTa. eë B^nflnne Ha (|K>pMnpoBaHHe mix 6opo34 HeBCiHKO. Ha ocHOBaHiin (tjopMbl, pacnano*eHHfl H piicyHKa 5opo3/t /icnaeTC" BUBO/1, MTO OHH. CKOpee BCerO. f)W/lH ClpOpMHpOBaHbl B MeJIKHX BOZiaX MpOKe3CKOrO 03epa BO BpeMfl KopoTkOH (ba3bi Cn/iHeiï nozi B03,aeHCTBi(eM 03ëpnoro j\t>j\a, HaitccetiHoro /lOMHHHpyiOlilHMH CeBepOBOCTOMHhlMH BeTpaMH OT OTcTynaioUJero /laBpenTHitcKoro MaTepnKOBoro neaHHKa.