화학공학소재연구정보센터
Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.127, No.35, 12338-12342, 2005
Microscopic origins for the favorable solvation of carbonate ether copolymers in CO2
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.