Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 28, 2026

Facile Preparation of Ultrafine Aluminum Hydroxide Particles with or without Mesoporous MCM-41 in Ambient Environments
Published on: May 11, 2017
Preferential adsorption from liquid water-ethanol mixtures in alumina pores
Anh Phan1, David R Cole, Alberto Striolo
1Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London , Torrington Place, London WC1 E7JE, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
The sorptivity, structure, and dynamics of liquid water-ethanol mixtures confined in alumina pores were studied by molecular dynamics simulations. Due to an effective stronger attraction between water and the alumina surface, our simulations show that water is preferentially adsorbed in alumina nanopores from bulk solutions of varying composition. These results are in good qualitative agreement with experimental data reported by Rao and Sircar (Adsorpt. Sci. Technol. 1993, 10, 93). Analysis of the simulated trajectories allows us to predict that water diffuses through the narrow pores more easily than ethanol, in part because of its smaller size. Our results suggest that ethanol has an antiplasticization effect on water within the narrow pores considered here, whereas it has a plasticization effect on water in the bulk. Rao and Sircar suggested that alumina could be used in concentration swing and/or concentration-thermal swing adsorption processes to separate water from ethanol. In addition, our results suggest the possibility of using alumina for manufacturing permselective membranes to produce anhydrous ethanol from liquid water-ethanol solutions.
More Related Videos
08:15Obtaining 3D Chemical Maps by Energy Filtered Transmission Electron Microscopy Tomography
Published on: June 9, 2018
11:38In situ FTIR Spectroscopy as a Tool for Investigation of Gas/Solid Interaction: Water-Enhanced CO2 Adsorption in UiO-66 Metal-Organic Framework
Published on: February 1, 2020
Related Concept Videos
Analyte Adsorption and Distribution
Adsorption Isotherms I
Adsorption Isotherms II
Adsorption of Gases on Solids
Preparation of Alcohols via Addition Reactions
The acid-catalyzed addition of water to the double bond of alkenes is a large-scale industrial method used to synthesize low-molecular-weight alcohols. An acidic atmosphere is required to allow the hydrogen in the water molecule to act as an electrophile and attack the double bond in an alkene. The addition of a proton to the double bond creates a carbocation intermediate. The proton preferentially bonds to the less substituted end of the double bond to create a more stable carbocation...
Acid-Catalyzed Hydration of Alkenes