NMR characterization of hydrocarbon adsorption on calcite surfaces: a first principles study

The electronic and coordination environment of minerals surfaces, as calcite, are very difficult to characterize experimentally. This is mainly due to the fact that there are relatively few spectroscopic techniques able to detect Ca(2+). Since calcite is a major constituent of sedimentary rocks in oil reservoir, a more detailed characterization of the interaction between hydrocarbon molecules and mineral surfaces is highly desirable. Here we perform a first principles study on the adsorption of hydrocarbon molecules on calcite surface (CaCO3 (101¯4)). The simulations were based on Density Functional Theory with Solid State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (SS-NMR) calculations. The Gauge-Including Projector Augmented Wave method was used to compute mainly SS-NMR parameters for (43)Ca, (13)C, and (17)O in calcite surface. It was possible to assign the peaks in the theoretical NMR spectra for all structures studied. Besides showing different chemical shifts for atoms located on different environments (bulk and surface) for calcite, the results also display changes on the chemical shift, mainly for Ca sites, when the hydrocarbon molecules are present. Even though the interaction of the benzene molecule with the calcite surface is weak, there is a clearly distinguishable displacement of the signal of the Ca sites over which the hydrocarbon molecule is located. A similar effect is also observed for hexane adsorption. Through NMR spectroscopy, we show that aromatic and alkane hydrocarbon molecules adsorbed on carbonate surfaces can be differentiated.