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Ionic liquids (ILs) are a unique class of solvents with potential applications in advanced separation technologies relevant to the nuclear industry. ILs are salts with low melting points and a wide range of tunable physical properties, such as viscosity, hydrophobiciy, conductivity, and liquidus range. ILs have negligible vapor pressure, are often non-flammable, and can have high thermal stability and a wide electrochemical window, making them attractive for use in separations processes relevant to the nuclear industry. Metal salts generally have a low solubility in ILs; however, by incorporating new functional groups into the IL cation or anion that promote complexation with the metal, the solubility can be greatly increased. One such task-specific ionic liquid (TSIL) is 1-carboxy-N, N, N-trimethylglycine bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([Hbet][Tf2N]) [Nockemann et al., J. Phys. Chem. B 110, 20978–20992 (2006)]. Water, which is detrimental for electrochemical separations, is a common impurity in ILs and can coordinate with actinyl cations, particularly in ILs containing only weakly coordinating components. Understanding the behavior of actinides in TSIL/water mixtures on a molecular level is vital for designing improved separations processes. Classical molecular dynamics simulations of uranyl(VI) and plutonyl(VI) in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([EMIM][Tf2N]) with deprotonated Hbet (betaine) and water have been performed to understand the coordination and dynamics of the actinyl cations. We find that betaine is a much stronger ligand than water and prefers to coordinate the metal in a bidentate manner. Potential of mean force simulations yield a relative free energy for betaine coordination of approximately −120 to −90 kJ/mol in mixtures with water. As the amount of betaine coordinated to the actinide increases, the diffusion coefficient of the actinyl cation decreases. Moreover, the betaine ligand is able to bridge between two metal centers, resulting in dimeric complexes with actinide–actinide distances of ∼5 Å. Potential of mean force simulations show that these structures are stable, with relative free energies of up to −40 kJ/mol. The crystal structure for [(UO2)2(bet)6(H2O)2][Tf2N]4 shows that the betaine bridges between two uranium atoms to form dimeric complexes similar to those found in our simulations [Nockemann et al. Inorg. Chem. 49, 3351–33601 (2010)]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The properties of water vary dramatically with temperature and density. This can be exploited to control its effectiveness as a solvent. Thus, supercritical water is of keen interest as solvent in many extraction processes. The low solubility of salts in lower density supercritical water has even been suggested as a means of desalination. The high temperatures and pressures required to reach supercritical conditions can present experimental challenges during collection of required physical property and phase equilibria data, especially in salt-containing systems. Molecular simulations have the potential to be a valuable tool for examining the behavior of solvated ions at these high temperatures and pressures. However, the accuracy of classical force fields under these conditions is unclear. We have, therefore, undertaken a parametric study of NaCl in water, comparing several salt and water models at 200 bar–600 bar and 450 K–750 K for a range of salt concentrations. We report a comparison of structural properties including ion aggregation, hydrogen bonding, density, and static dielectric constants. All of the force fields qualitatively reproduce the trends in the liquid phase density. An increase in ion aggregation with decreasing density holds true for all of the force fields. The propensity to aggregate is primarily determined by the salt force field rather than the water force field. This coincides with a decrease in the water static dielectric constant and reduced charge screening. While a decrease in the static dielectric constant with increasing NaCl concentration is consistent across all model combinations, the salt force fields that exhibit more ionic aggregation yield a slightly smaller dielectric decrement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have performed classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of aqueous sodium chloride (NaCl) solutions from 298 to 674 K at 200 bars to understand the influence of ion pairing and ion self-diffusion on electrical conductivity in high-temperature/high-pressure salt solutions. Conductivity data obtained from the MD simulation highlight an apparent anomaly, namely, a conductivity maximum as temperature increases along an isobar, which has been also observed in experimental studies. By examining both velocity autocorrelation and cross-correlation terms of the Green-Kubo integral, we quantitatively demonstrate that the conductivity anomaly arises mainly from a competition between the single-ion self-diffusion and the contact ion pair formation. The velocity autocorrelation function in conjunction with structural analysis suggests that diffusive motion of ions is suppressed at high temperatures due to the persistence of an inner hydration shell. The contribution of velocity cross-correlation functions between oppositely charged ions becomes significant at the onset of the conductivity decrease. Structural analysis based on Voronoi tessellation and pair correlation functions indicates that the fraction of contact ion pairs increases as temperature increases. Spatial decomposition of the electrical conductivity also indicates that the formation of contact ion pairs significantly decreases the electrical conductivity compared to Nernst-Einstein conductivity, but the contribution of distant opposite charges cannot be ignored except at the highest temperature due to unscreened long-range interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We construct new equations of state (EOS) for high density and ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene and their chemical decomposition products under shock loading. The former were built using the SESAME framework, based in part on new specific heat and thermal expansion data reported here. The products EOS was based on thermochemical modeling under the assumption of full thermodynamic and chemical equilibrium. The products are represented as the ideal mixture of bulk carbon in the form of diamond, H 2 , H, and CH 4. In the process of building a new EOS for the products, we recalibrated our exponential-6 pair potential for methane in order to better agree with data that have appeared since its original parameterization. The polyethylene EOS were calibrated to thermal, thermomechanical, and shock data, and their performance was evaluated in hydrodynamic modeling of deep release experiments reported previously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two different techniques - replica-exchange Wang-Landau (REWL) and statistical temperature molecular dynamics (STMD) - were applied to systematically study the phase transition behavior of self-assembling lipids as a function of temperature using an off-lattice lipid model. Both methods allow the direct calculation of the density of states with improved efficiency compared to the original Wang-Landau method. A 3-segment model of amphiphilic lipids solvated in water has been studied with varied particle interaction energies (&eh;) and lipid concentrations. The phase behavior of the lipid molecules with respect to bilayer formation has been characterized through the calculation of the heat capacity as a function of temperature, in addition to various order parameters and general visual inspection. The simulations conducted by both methods can go to very low temperatures with the whole system exhibiting well-ordered structures. With optimized parameters, several bilayer phases are observed within the temperature range studied, including gel phase bilayers with frozen water, mixed water (i.e., frozen and liquid water), and liquid water, and a more fluid bilayer with liquid water. The results obtained from both methods, STMD and REWL, are consistently in excellent agreement with each other, thereby validating both the methods and the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to understand the thermodynamic, dynamic, and structural changes in supercritical water across the Frenkel line and the melting line have been performed. The two-phase thermodynamic model [J. Phys. Chem. B, 2010, 114(24), 8191–8198] and the velocity autocorrelation functions are used to locate the Frenkel line and to calculate the thermodynamic and dynamic properties. The Frenkel lines obtained from the two-phase thermodynamic model and the velocity autocorrelation criterion do not agree with each other. Structural characteristics and the translational diffusion dynamics of water suggest that this inconsistency could arise from the two oscillatory modes in water, which are associated with the bending of hydrogen bonds and intermolecular collisions inside the first coordination shell. The overall results lead us to conclude that the universality of the Frenkel line as a dynamic crossover line from rigid to nonrigid fluids is preserved in water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Configurational-bias Monte Carlo has been incorporated into the Wang-Landau method. Although the Wang-Landau algorithm enables the calculation of the complete density of states, its applicability to continuous molecular systems has been limited to simple models. With the inclusion of more advanced sampling techniques, such as configurational-bias, the Wang-Landau method can be used to simulate complex chemical systems. The accuracy and efficiency of the method is assessed using as a test case systems of linear alkanes represented by a united-atom model. With strict convergence criteria, the density of states derived from the Wang-Landau algorithm yields the correct heat capacity when compared to conventional Boltzmann sampling simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Wang-Landau (WL) Monte Carlo method has been applied to simulate the self-assembly of a lipid bilayer on a 3D lattice. The WL method differs from conventional Monte Carlo methods in that a complete density of states is obtained directly for the system, from which properties, such as the free energy, can be derived. Furthermore, from a single WL simulation, continuous curves of the average energy and heat capacity can be determined, which provide a complete picture of the phase behavior. The lipid model studied consists of 3 or 5 coarse-grained segments on lattices of varying sizes, with the empty lattice sites representing water. A bilayer structure is found to form at low temperatures, with phase transitions to clusters as temperature increases. For 3-segment chains, varying lattice sizes were studied, with the observation that the ratio of chain number to lattice area (i.e., area per lipid) affects the phase transition temperature. At small ratios, only one phase transition occurs between the bilayer and cluster phases, while at high lipid ratios the phase transition occurs in a two-step process with a stable intermediate phase. This second phase transition was not observed in conventional Metropolis Monte Carlo simulations on the same model, demonstrating the advantage of being able to perform a complete scan of the whole temperature range with the WL method. For longer 5-segment chains similar phase transitions are also observed with changes in temperature. In the WL method, due to the extensive nature of the energy, the number of energy bins required to represent the density of states increases as the system size increases and so limits its practical application to larger systems. To improve this, an extension of the WL algorithm, the statistical-temperature Monte Carlo method that allows simulations with larger energy bin sizes, has recently been proposed and is implemented in this work for the 3-segment lattice model. The results obtained are in good agreement with the original WL method and appear to be independent of the energy bin size used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fundamental understanding of thebehavior of actinides in ionicliquids is required to develop advanced separation technologies. Spectroscopicmeasurements indicate a change in the coordination of uranyl in thehydrophobic ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide([EMIM][Tf2N]) as water is added to the system. Moleculardynamics simulations of dilute uranyl (UO22+) and plutonyl (PuO22+) solutionsin [EMIM][Tf2N]/water mixtures have been performed in orderto examine the molecular-level coordination and dynamics of the actinylcation (AnO22+); An = U, Pu) as the amount of water in the system changes. Thesimulations show that the actinyl cation has a strong preference fora first solvation shell with five oxygen atoms, although a highercoordination number is possible in mixtures with little or no water.Water is a much stronger ligand for the actinyl cation than Tf2N, with even very small amounts of water displacing Tf2N from the first solvation shell. When enough water is present,the inner coordination sphere of each actinyl cation contains fivewater molecules without any Tf2N. Water also populatesthe second solvation shell, although it does not completely displacethe Tf2N. At high water concentrations, a significant fractionof the water is found in the bulk ionic liquid, where it primarilycoordinates with the Tf2N anion. Potential of mean forcesimulations show that the progressive addition of up to five watermolecules to uranyl is very favorable, with ΔGranging from −52.3 kJ/mol for the addition of the first watermolecule to −37.6 kJ/mol for the addition of the fifth. Uranyland plutonyl dimers formed via bridging Tf2N ligands arefound in [EMIM][Tf2N] and in mixtures with very small amountsof water. Potential of mean force calculations confirm that the dimericcomplexes are stable, with relative free energies of up to −9kJ/mol in pure [EMIM][Tf2N]. We find that the self-diffusioncoefficients for all the components in the mixture increase as thewater content increases, with the largest increase for water and thesmallest increase for the ionic liquid cation and anion. The velocityautocorrelation functions also indicate changes in structure and dynamicsas the water content changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coarse-grain potentials allow one to extend molecular simulations to length and time scales beyond those accesssible to atomistic representations of the interacting system. Since the coarse-grain potentials remove a large number of interaction sites and, hence, a large number of degrees of freedom, it is generally assumed that coarse-grain potentials are not transferable to different systems or state points (temperature and pressure). Here we apply lessons learned from the parametrization of transferable atomistic potentials to develop a systematic procedure for the parametrization of transferable coarse-grain potentials. In particular, we apply an iterative Boltzmann optimization for the determination of the bonded interactions for coarse-grain beads belonging to the same molecule and separated by one or two coarse-grain bonds and parametrize the nonbonded interactions by fitting to the vapor-liquid coexistence curves computed for selected molecules represented by the TraPPE-UA (transferable potentials for phase equilibria-united atom) force field. This approach is tested here for linear alkanes where parameters for C(3)H(7) end segments and for C(3)H(6) middle segments of the TraPPE-CG (transferable potentials for phase equilibria-coarse grain) force field are determined and it is shown that these parameters yield quite accurate vapor-liquid equilibria for neat n-hexane to n-triacontane and for the binary mixture of n-hexane and n-hexatriacontane. In addition, the position of the first peak in various radial distribution functions and the coordination number for the first solvation shell are well reproduced by the TraPPE-CG force field, but the first peaks are too high and narrow.