Molecular dynamics simulations of liquid crystalline phases of dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride

Molecular dynamics simulations of four different phases of a cationic surfactant dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride (DTAC) are presented. It is shown that when the topology of the initial configuration matches that of the equilibrium structure, the required equilibration times of MD simulations are only few nanoseconds. The methods of building initial configurations for simulations of the hexagonal and Ia3d bicontinuous cubic phases are described. The simulation results show that locally, the hydrophilic part of the hexagonal phase has a flat bilayer structure. Analysis of radial distribution functions shows that the properties of the hydrophilic layers of the phases are dominated by ion–ion and ion–water interactions. The dynamic properties of the system are dependent on the curvature of the aggregates, and calculated diffusion coefficients are in agreement with experimental NMR data

A model for water sorption isotherms and hydration forces in sugar surfactants

HYPOTHESIS: Hydration forces between surfactant bilayers can be assessed using water sorption isotherms of surfactants. For a quantitative description, a water sorption model that relates water activity to water content in surfactant-based systems should be proposed. THEORY AND SIMULATIONS: A water sorption model for nonionic surfactant systems based on the idea on partial solvent accessibility is proposed. The model contains only two parameters: one describes the strength of interactions, the other describes the fraction of surfactant available for water. For comparison, molecular dynamics simulations of bilayers of n-octyl β-d-glucoside with different water contents are presented. FINDINGS: The model provides an excellent fit of experimental data on water sorption isotherms of two sugar surfactants. The results of the fitting are compared with molecular dynamics simulations and show a good correlation between simulations and the theory proposed. Analysis of interaction energies shows weakly endothermic hydration both in the simulations and in the sorption model, which agrees with calorimetric data on hydration. The model also shows a non-exponential decay of hydration forces with respect to the distance between bilayers; an expression for the decay length is derived

Properties of Water Confined in an Amphiphilic Nanopore

Molecular dynamics simulations of water and nitrogen confined in a model amphiphilic nanotube were performed. The nanotube has a diameter of 4 nm and consists of hydrophobic atoms and regularly placed OH groups. The results show that the density of water close to the nanotube walls is lower compared to the density in the center of the nanotube. The hydrogen bonded network of water molecules is practically intact compared with the bulk water. The simulation confirms that the experimentally observed low formal density of water in the nanopores (0.88 g/cm3) is due to formation of small unfilled cavities adjacent to the pore walls. Nitrogen molecules are localized primarily in the unhydrated cavities. The presence of nitrogen molecules is not the main reason for the decrease of water density in the nanotube

Salt-saturated salt solution as a standard system for sorption calorimetry

The method of sorption calorimetry allows simultaneous monitoring of water activity and the partial molar enthalpy of mixing of water. The way of calibration of sorption calorimeter affects the accuracy of the data obtained in sorption experiments. In order to improve the accuracy of the method one can use physico-chemical calibration instead of electrical calibration. The system for use in the calibration should keep its properties constant during the sorption of water, therefore a heterogeneous system can be used. The particular system suitable for this purpose is magnesium nitrate hexahydrate in equilibrium with its saturated solution. The enthalpy of dissolution of the hexahydrate in its saturated solution needed for the calibration has been determined by isothermal titration calorimetry at 25 and 40 degreesC. The titration results are in agreement with the calculations based on van der Waals differential equation. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

On the calculation of thermodynamic parameters in sorption calorimetric experiments

The sorption calorimetry method developed by Wadso and co-workers is one of the most successful methods for studying the enthalpy of vapor sorption by solids and gels. A unique feature of this method is a simultaneous measurement of the water sorption isotherm and the sorption enthalpy. The accuracy of the enthalpy measurements in sorption calorimetric experiments can be affected by diffusion of water vapour through the injection channel tube and potentially through small leaks in the sorption cell. At high water activities this leads to an apparent drift of the measured enthalpies towards endothermic values. In this work we propose an improvement of the enthalpy calculation method, that eliminates these effects and substantially improves the accuracy of the enthalpy measurements. The new method is successfully tested on previously published sorption calorimetric data and can be recommended for use in future experiments. (C) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd

The nature of nonfreezing water in carbohydrate polymers

In an aqueous environment, carbohydrate polymers are surrounded by hydration shells consisting of water molecules that are sometimes called “bound”. When polymer solutions are subjected to low temperatures, a part of water turns into ice, another part remains in the biopolymer phase and is called “nonfreezing water”. Thermodynamic analysis of water freezing shows that the amount of non-freezing water does not reflect the amount of bound water, neither can it be used as a measure of strength of polymer-water interactions. Upon deep cooling, crystallization of water should desiccate polymers more than is observed in experiment. The reason for existence of non-freezing water is an interplay between the crystallization of water and the glass transition in biopolymers that prevents dehydration

Application of scanning methods to distinguish between entropy and enthalpy driven phase transitions

All phase transitions can be divided into enthalpy and entropy driven. The driving forces of phase transitions in aqueous soft matter systems can be resolved by applying scanning methods. In this review three experimental methods — sorption calorimetry, differential scanning calorimetry and humidity scanning quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring are described. Advantages and disadvantages of the methods are discussed. The driving forces of phase transitions can be directly measured using sorption calorimetry or calculated using van der Waals differential equation using experimental data obtained by other methods. The results of experimental studies show that in surfactant and lipid systems the phase transitions to phases with higher curvature are driven by enthalpy, while phase transitions to phases with lower curvature are driven by entropy

Driving forces of phase transitions in surfactant and lipid systems

In aqueous surfactant and lipid systems, different liquid crystalline phases are formed at different temperatures and water contents. The "natural" phase sequence implies that phases with higher curvature are formed at higher water contents. On the other hand, there are exceptions to this rule, such as the monoolein/water system. In this system an anomalous transition from lamellar to reverse cubic phase upon addition of water is observed. The calorimetric data presented here show that the hydration-induced transitions to phases with higher curvature are driven by enthalpy, while the transitions to phases with lower curvature are driven by entropy. It is shown that the driving forces of phase transitions can be determined from the appearance of the phase diagram using the approach based on van der Waals differential equation. From this approach it follows that the slope of the phase boundary should be positive with respect to water content if the phase diagram obeys the "natural" phase sequence. The increase of entropy, which drives the anomalous phase transitions, arises from the increase of disorder of the hydrocarbon chains

Determination of Sorption Isotherm and Rheological Properties of Lysozyme Using a High-Resolution Humidity Scanning QCM-D Technique

The high-resolution humidity scanning QCM-D technique enables investigation of hydration of soft matter films using a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) equipped with a humidity module. Based on a continuous increase of relative humidity, properties of soft matter films can be investigated depending on the water content of the surrounding atmosphere. Determination of complete water sorption isotherms is possible via analysis of the overtone dependence of the resonance frequencies. Rheological properties are monitored via measurement of the dissipation. The glass transition can be identified from the change of viscoelastic properties of the film reflected in changes of the dissipation. A high-resolution water sorption isotherm of lysozyme was measured and compared with results from water sorption calorimetry. Analysis of the rheological behavior during hydration of lysozyme films revealed the presence of two separate sharp transitions at the water activities 0.67 and 0.91, which are connected to the glass transition. In previous works, only the existence of a broad glass transition has been reported so far. Combining the QCM-D data with Raman scattering data presented earlier, a new mechanism of isothermal glass transition in lysozyme is proposed

Hydration of Dimethyldodecylamine-N-Oxide : Enthalpy and Entropy Driven Processes

Dimethyldodecylamine-N-oxide (DDAO) has only one polar atom that is able to interact with water. Still, this surfactant shows very hydrophilic properties: in mixtures with water, it forms normal liquid crystallinephases and micelles. Moreover, there is data in the literature indicating that the hydration of this surfactant is driven by enthalpy while other studies show that hydration of surfactants and lipids typically is driven by entropy. Sorption calorimetry allows resolving enthalpic and entropic contributions to the free energy of hydration at constant temperature and thus directly determines the driving forces of hydration. The results of the present sorption calorimetric study show that the hydration of liquid crystalline phases of DDAO is drivenby entropy, except for the hydration of the liquid crystalline lamellar phase which is co-driven by enthalpy.The exothermic heat effect of the hydration of the lamellar phase arises from formation of strong hydrogen bonds between DDAO and water. Another issue is the driving forces of the phase transitions caused by the hydration. The sorption calorimetric results show that the transitions from the lamellar to cubic and from the cubic to the hexagonal phase are driven by enthalpy. Transitions from solid phases to the liquid crystallinelamellar phase are entropically driven, while the formation of the monohydrate from the dry surfactant is driven by enthalpy. The driving forces of the transition from the hexagonal phase to the isotropic solution are close to zero. These sorption calorimetric results are in good agreement with the analysis of the binary phase diagram based on the van der Waals differential equation. The phase diagram of the DDAO-water system determined using DSC and sorption calorimetry is presented