[81] Microscopic Origins for the Favorable Solvation of Carbonate Ether Copolymers in CO2

C.D. Wick, J.I. Siepmann, and D.N. Theodorou

J. Am. Chem. Soc. 127, 12338-12342 (2005)

Publication Abstract

The strong desire for the wide use of carbon dioxide as an environmentally benign process solvent has spurred a large number of attempts to improve its solubility characteristics. Pioneering experimental work by Beckman and co-workers has pointed to carbonate ether copolymers as promising candidates for nonfluorous surfactants. It is demonstrated here that Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo simulations (using configurational-bias and double-bridging strategies and the transferable potentials for phase equilibria force field) can be employed to accurately predict the phase equilibria of a carbonate ether copolymer with CO2. The simulations indicate that the greater accessibility of the carbonyl oxygen plays a major role for the CO2-philicity of this copolymer surfactant.

Microscopic Origins for the Favorable Solvation of Carbonate Ether Copolymers in CO2