Interfacial Thermal Conductivity and Its Anisotropy

There is a significant effort in miniaturizing nanodevices, such as semi-conductors, currently underway. However, a major challenge that is a significant bottleneck is dissipating heat generated in these energy-intensive nanodevices. In addition to being a serious operational concern (high temperatures can interfere with their efficient operation), it is a serious safety concern, as has been documented in recent reports of explosions resulting from many such overheated devices. A significant barrier to heat dissipation is the interfacial films present in these nanodevices. These interfacial films generally are not an issue in macro-devices. The research presented in this paper was an attempt to understand these interfacial resistances at the molecular level, and present possibilities for enhancing the heat dissipation rates in interfaces. We demonstrated that the thermal resistances of these interfaces were strongly anisotropic; i.e., the resistance parallel to the interface was significantly smaller than the resistance perpendicular to the interface. While the latter is well-known—usually referred to as Kapitza resistance—the anisotropy and the parallel component have previously been investigated only for solid-solid interfaces. We used molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the density profiles at the interface as a function of temperature and temperature gradient, to reveal the underlying physics of the anisotropy of thermal conductivity at solid-liquid, liquid-liquid, and solid-solid interfaces

Deuterium- induced 19F Isotope Shifts in Fluoroethenes

Deuterium‐induced 1 9F isotope shifts in the NMR spectra of 17 fluoroethenes are reported here together with other NMR parameters (1H and 1 9F chemical shifts and FF, HF, DF, and DH coupling constants). The two‐bond (g e m) and three‐bond (t r a n s) isotope shifts exhibit correlations with nuclear spin–spin coupling constants 2 J g e m (HF) and 3 J t r a n s (HF). The isotope shifts are interpreted using derivatives of nuclear shielding with respect to bond extension derived from the 1 9F temperature dependence at the zero‐pressure limit, and the changes in the mean bond lengths due to isotopic substitution. The latter are calculated using the previously reported Urey–Bradley force fields for these molecules. The analysis of the isotope shifts lead to estimates of the change of 1 9F nuclear shielding due to extension of a bond which is located at a g e m, c i s, or t r a n s position relative to the resonant nucleus. These 1 9F nuclear shielding derivatives correlate with the nuclear spin–spin coupling constants 2 J g e m (HF) , 3 J c i s (HF), and 3 J t r a n s (HF) which share the same pathway of electronic transmission

Understanding Separation Mechanisms of Monoatomic Gases, Such as Kr and Xe, via DD3R Zeolite Membrane Using Molecular Dynamics

Noble gas fission byproducts, such as Kr and Xe, are generated within nuclear power reactors are currently being discharged into the atmosphere. This practice has a major economic drawback because of the high value associated with some of these gases. The separations of these gases are economically prohibitive because of the high energy requirement associated with cryogenic distillation. Zeolites, nanoporous materials suitable for gas separation processes, have exhibited high selectivity for such separations. We have used nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (MD) to investigate the separation performance of DD3R framework zeolitic membrane. The effects of pressure, temperature, and pure vs. mixture gas feed conditions are studied in this work to understand and explain, at the molecular level, the mechanisms of these (Kr/Xe) separations. Our studies have shown that the DD3R membrane shows promise for high selectivity ratios of Kr over Xe. MD runs show agreement with experimental trends of the permeation of Kr/Xe pure and mixed gases using DD3R zeolite with high separation factor. Despite the absence of Xe complete permeation through the membrane because of MD timescale limitations, our results are sufficient to describe the mechanisms of these separations

Xe Recovery from Nuclear Power Plants Off-Gas Streams: Molecular Simulations of Gas Permeation through DD3R Zeolite Membrane

Recent experimental work has shown zeolite membrane-based separation as a promising potential technology for Kr/Xe gas mixtures due to its much lower energy requirements in comparison to cryogenic distillation, the conventional separation method for such mixtures. Such a separation is also economically rewarding because Xe is in high demand, as a valuable product for many applications/processes. In this work, we have used Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations to study the effects of different conditions, i.e., temperature, pressure, and gas feed composition, on Kr/Xe separation performance via DD3R zeolite membranes. We provide a comprehensive study of the permeation of the different gas species, density profiles, and diffusion coefficients. Molecular simulations show that if the feed is changed from pure Kr/Xe to an equimolar mixture, the Kr/Xe separation factor increases, which agrees with experiments. In addition, when Ar is introduced as a sweep gas, the adsorption of both Kr and Xe increases, while the permeation of pure Kr increases. A similar behavior is observed with equimolar mixtures of Kr/Xe with Ar as the sweep gas. High-separation Kr/Xe selectivity is observed at 50 atm and 425 K but with low total permeation rates. Changing pressure and temperature are found to have profound effects on optimizing the separation selectivity and the permeation throughput

Measuring chirality in NMR in the presence of a static electric field

The scalar Hamiltonian of nuclear spins in the presence of a static electric field supports chirality. However, the eigenvalues of the Hamiltonian are not chiral; hence, chirality is not manifested in the usual NMR experiment. In this work, we show that the magnetization response to certain radio frequency pulse sequences exhibits chirality as well as handedness

Recent Advances in Nuclear Shielding Calculations

Nuclear magnetic shielding calculations have reached a great deal of sophistication as these now incorporate both relativistic and correlation effects. Approaches now include molecular dynamics as well as effects of the medium in condensed phases. With these computational tools, calculated shielding values are now obtained under conditions as close as possible to those of a sample inside a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer. Indeed, computations are approaching the limits of experimental uncertainty. A brief description of new methodologies of shielding calculations is presented followed by a review of the various factors that may influence shielding. The usefulness of being able to reproduce experimental data is highlighted by citing how shielding calculations in many instances have enabled avenues for extracting information on various systems