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Updated: Jun 1, 2026

A Toolkit to Enable Hydrocarbon Conversion in Aqueous Environments
Published on: October 2, 2012
Adsorption of n-alkane vapours at the water surface
Frédéric Biscay1, Aziz Ghoufi, Patrice Malfreyt
1Clermont Université, Université Blaise Pascal, Laboratoire de Thermodynamique et Interactions Moléculaires, CNRS, UMR 6272, LTIM, BP 10448, Clermont-Ferrand, France.
Abstract:
Monte Carlo simulations are reported here to predict the surface tension of the liquid-vapour interface of water upon adsorption of alkane vapours (methane to hexane). A decrease of the surface tension has been established from n-pentane. A correlation has been evidenced between the decrease of the surface tension and the absence of specific arrangement at the water surface for n-pentane and n-hexane. The thermodynamic stability of the adsorption layer and the absence of film for longer alkanes have been checked through the calculation of a potential of mean force. This complements the work recently published [Ghoufi et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2010, 12, 5203] concerning the adsorption of methane at the water surface. The decrease of the surface tension has been interpreted in terms of the degree of hydrogen bonding of water molecules at the liquid-vapour interface upon adsorption.
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