skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Curvature-induced hydrophobicity at imogolite–water interfaces

Journal Article · · Environmental Science: Nano
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1039/d0en00304b· OSTI ID:1677642
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3]; ORCiD logo [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [5]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Univ. Grenoble Alpes (France); Univ. Savoie Mont Blanc (France)
  2. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
  3. Univ. of Delaware, Newark, DE (United States)
  4. Princeton Univ., NJ (United States)
  5. Inst. Laue-Langevin (ILL), Grenoble (France)
  6. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)
  7. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

Imogolite, a nanotubular aluminosilicate mineral, is commonly found in volcanic soils, where it exerts a control on carbon dynamics. Synthetic imogolites are used for the removal of contaminants from industrial effluents and are considered for a range of other applications including gas adsorption and functionalised heterogeneous catalysts. In spite of their environmental and industrial relevance, the properties of imogolite–water interfaces remain poorly understood. In this work, an experimental and computational study is presented in which the structure and energetics of water are characterized on the curved external surface of imogolite and the hydrophilicity of this surface is contrasted with that of gibbsite, its planar counterpart. Atomic force spectroscopy experiments show that in spite of their identical surface structure, imogolite has a lower hygroscopicity than gibbsite. Molecular dynamics simulations provide an explanation for this observation: the curvature of imogolite prevents the formation of in-plane H-bonds along the directions of the nanotube circumference, lowering the enthalpy of adsorption of water molecules. The different arrangement of surface H-bonds and the resulting differences in hydration properties also affects the acidity constants of surface hydroxyl groups. This ‘nanotube effect’ may be relevant to other nanotubular systems with high curvatures, potentially impacting their wetting properties, their colloidal stability and their affinity towards hydrophobic organic moieties.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) and The Molecular Foundry (TMF); Princeton Univ., NJ (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Région Rhône-Alpes; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Chemical Sciences, Geosciences & Biosciences Division; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830; SC0018439; SC0018419; AC02-05CH11231; KC020105-FWP12152
OSTI ID:
1677642
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1647501; OSTI ID: 1784310
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-155958
Journal Information:
Environmental Science: Nano, Vol. 7, Issue 9; ISSN 2051-8153
Publisher:
Royal Society of ChemistryCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (83)

Molecular Dynamics Study of Hydrated Imogolite. 1. Vibrational Dynamics of the Nanotube journal June 2008
Generalized Gradient Approximation Made Simple journal October 1996
Direction-Specific Interactions Control Crystal Growth by Oriented Attachment journal May 2012
Imogolite, a Hydrated Aluminium Silicate of Tubular Structure journal December 1972
Formation and stability of imogolite in a tephritic Spodosol, Cascade Range, Washington, U.S.A. journal August 1989
Structural resolution of inorganic nanotubes with complex stoichiometry journal May 2018
Calibration of atomic‐force microscope tips journal July 1993
Refinement of the crystal structure of gibbsite, Al(OH) 3 journal April 1974
Prediction of surface charge on oxides in salt solutions: Revisions for 1:1 (M+L−) electrolytes journal January 2005
Soil structure and management: a review journal January 2005
Molecular Computer Simulations of the Swelling Properties and Interlayer Structure of Cesium Montmorillonite journal September 1998
The two-phase model for calculating thermodynamic properties of liquids from molecular dynamics: Validation for the phase diagram of Lennard-Jones fluids journal December 2003
Direct observation of anisotropic growth of water films on minerals driven by defects and surface tension journal July 2020
Structure and affinity towards Cd2+, Cu2+, Pb2+ of synthetic colloidal amorphous aluminosilicates and their precursors journal November 1999
Role of natural nanoparticles on the speciation of Ni in andosols of la Reunion journal August 2009
Intrinsic Proton Affinity of Reactive Surface Groups of Metal (Hydr)oxides: The Bond Valence Principle journal December 1996
Comparative Study of Water Adsorption on a H + and K + Ion Exposed Mica Surface: Monte Carlo Simulation Study journal January 2016
Stern Layer Structure and Energetics at Mica–Water Interfaces journal April 2017
Molecular Explanation for Why Talc Surfaces Can Be Both Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic journal December 2011
Multilayer adsorption of water on silica: An analysis of experimental results journal November 1980
From ultrasoft pseudopotentials to the projector augmented-wave method journal January 1999
Molecular Dynamics Studies of Interfacial Water at the Alumina Surface journal December 2010
Fast Parallel Algorithms for Short-Range Molecular Dynamics journal March 1995
Adsorption of Lead, Copper, Zinc, Cobalt, and Cadmium by Soils that Differ in Cation-Exchange Materials journal June 1981
Structural Model and Computer Modeling Study of Allophane journal January 2008
Hydration Properties and Interlayer Organization of Water and Ions in Synthetic Na-Smectite with Tetrahedral Layer Charge. Part 2. Toward a Precise Coupling between Molecular Simulations and Diffraction Data journal December 2010
Imogolite Nanotubes: A Flexible Nanoplatform with Multipurpose Applications journal October 2018
Ab initiomolecular dynamics for liquid metals journal January 1993
Surface Protonation at the Rutile (110) Interface: Explicit Incorporation of Solvation Structure within the Refined MUSIC Model Framework journal November 2008
Effects of substrate structure and composition on the structure, dynamics, and energetics of water at mineral surfaces: A molecular dynamics modeling study journal February 2006
Electronic signature of the instantaneous asymmetry in the first coordination shell of liquid water journal February 2013
Structure and distribution of allophanes, imogolite and proto-imogolite in volcanic soils journal August 2012
Bond-Valence Constraints on Liquid Water Structure journal March 2009
The Surface Chemistry of Imogolite journal January 2001
Nanoparticles in the Soil Environment journal December 2008
Distribution and characterization of short-range-order minerals in spodosols from the Washington cascades journal May 1991
Unraveling Hydrophobic Interactions at the Molecular Scale Using Force Spectroscopy and Molecular Dynamics Simulations journal March 2017
Two-Phase Thermodynamic Model for Efficient and Accurate Absolute Entropy of Water from Molecular Dynamics Simulations journal June 2010
Probing the intrinsically oil-wet surfaces of pores in North Sea chalk at subpore resolution journal March 2009
Allophane, imogolite, and gibbsite in coatings in a Costa Rican Andisol journal January 1995
Ultra-Sensitive Imaging and Interfacial Analysis of Patterned Hydrophilic SAM Surfaces Using Energy Dissipation Chemical Force Microscopy journal May 2005
Bond-valence parameters obtained from a systematic analysis of the Inorganic Crystal Structure Database journal August 1985
Molecular Models of Hydroxide, Oxyhydroxide, and Clay Phases and the Development of a General Force Field journal January 2004
Pore-Scale Analysis of Evaporation and Condensation Dynamics in Porous Media journal September 2010
Solid wetting-layers in inorganic nano-reactors: the water in imogolite nanotube case journal January 2020
Imogolite Nanotubes: Stability, Electronic, and Mechanical Properties journal November 2007
Ab initio simulation of the structural and electronic properties of aluminosilicate and aluminogermanate natotubes with imogolite-like structure journal September 2007
Hydration of metal surfaces can be dynamically heterogeneous and hydrophobic journal February 2013
Beyond clay: towards an improved set of variables for predicting soil organic matter content journal February 2018
Vapor adsorption on mica and silicon: entropy effects, layering, and surface forces journal April 1992
A Surface Structural Approach to Ion Adsorption: The Charge Distribution (CD) Model journal May 1996
Mineral control of soil organic carbon storage and turnover journal September 1997
Molecular models and simulations of layered materials journal January 2009
Uranyl adsorption and surface speciation at the imogolite–water interface: Self-consistent spectroscopic and surface complexation models journal May 2006
Distribution of Zinc, Manganese, Copper, Cobalt, and Nickel in Andosols Profiles journal December 1996
Effects of Surface Chemistry on Structure and Thermodynamics of Water Layers at Solid−Vapor Interfaces journal December 2008
Synthesis of Imogolite Fibers from Decimolar Concentration at Low Temperature and Ambient Pressure: A Promising Route for Inexpensive Nanotubes journal December 2009
Hydrophobicity of proteins and nanostructured solutes is governed by topographical and chemical context journal November 2017
Water in carbon nanotubes: Adsorption isotherms and thermodynamic properties from molecular simulation journal June 2005
Interpreting the widespread nonlinear force spectra of intermolecular bonds journal August 2012
First-principles study of the OH-stretching modes of gibbsite journal January 2006
Chemical Force Microscopy journal August 1997
Weathering Environments and Occurrence of Imogolite/Allophane in Selected Andisols and Spodosols journal July 1991
Bond-valence methods for pKa prediction: critical reanalysis and a new approach journal May 2004
Water adsorption and the wetting of metal surfaces journal September 2009
Ab initio molecular-dynamics simulation of the liquid-metal–amorphous-semiconductor transition in germanium journal May 1994
Role of molecular charge and hydrophilicity in regulating the kinetics of crystal growth journal December 2006
Charging Behavior of the Gibbsite Basal (001) Surface in NaCl Solution Investigated by AFM Colloidal Probe Technique journal June 2006
Intrinsic Rates and Activation Free Energies from Single-Molecule Pulling Experiments journal March 2006
Effect of Different Crystal Faces on Experimental Interaction Force and Aggregation of Hematite journal November 1999
Free Energy Change of Aggregation of Nanoparticles journal August 2008
Organic matter identifies the nano-mechanical properties of native soil aggregates journal January 2018
Thin Film Water on Muscovite Mica journal May 2001
Measurement of the surface hydrophobicity of engineered nanoparticles using an atomic force microscope journal January 2018
Clay minerals, oxyhydroxide formation, element leaching and humus development in volcanic soils journal January 2008
Molecular dynamics study of hydrated imogolite : 2. Structure and dynamics of confined water journal January 2008
Interactions of Water with Mineral Dust Aerosol: Water Adsorption, Hygroscopicity, Cloud Condensation, and Ice Nucleation journal March 2016
Quasi-stabilized hydration layers on muscovite mica under a thin water film grown from humid air journal June 2017
Analysis of the Subcritical Carbon Dioxide−Water Interface journal June 2011
Single-Molecule Determination of the Face-Specific Adsorption of Amelogenin’s C-Terminus on Hydroxyapatite journal June 2011
Uranyl interaction with the hydrated (001) basal face of gibbsite: A combined theoretical and spectroscopic study journal December 2008
Nanomaterials in soils journal July 2008
The Effect of Surface Ions on Water Adsorption to Mica journal February 2008