| 1. |
- Angles d'Ortoli, Thibault, et al.
(författare)
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Temperature Dependence of Hydroxymethyl Group Rotamer Populations in Cellooligomers
- 2015
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Ingår i: Journal of Physical Chemistry B. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1520-6106 .- 1520-5207. ; 119:30, s. 9559-9570
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Empirical force fields for computer simulations of carbohydrates are often implicitly assumed to be valid also at temperatures different from room temperature for which they were optimited: Herein, the temperature dependence of the hydroxymethyl group rotamer populations in short oligogaccharides is invegtigated using Molecular dynamics simulations and NMR spectroscopy. Two oligosaccharides, methyl beta-cellobioside and beta-cellotetraose were simulated using three different carbohydrate force fields (CHARMM C35, GLYCAM06, and GROMOS 56A(carbo)) in combination with different water models (SPC, SPC/E, and TIP3P) using replica exchange molecular dynamics simulations. For comparison, hydroxymethyl group rotamer populations were investigated for methyl beta-cellobioside and cellopentaose based- on measured NMR (3)J(H5,H6) coupling constants, in the latter case by using a chemical shift selective NMR-filter. Molecular dynamics simulations in combination with NMR spectroscopy show that the temperature dependence of the hydroxymethyl rotamer population in these short cellooligomers, in the range 263-344 K, generally becomes exaggerated in simulations when compared to experimental data, but also that it is dependent on simulation conditions, and most notably properties of the water model.
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| 2. |
- Tolonen, Lasse K., et al.
(författare)
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Solubility of Cellulose in Supercritical Water Studied by Molecular Dynamics Simulations
- 2015
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Ingår i: Journal of Physical Chemistry B. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1520-6106 .- 1520-5207. ; 119:13, s. 4739-4748
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The insolubility of cellulose in ambient water and most aqueous systems presents a major scientific and practical challenge. Intriguingly though, the dissolution of cellulose has been reported to occur in supercritical water. In this study, cellulose solubility in ambient and supercritical water of varying density (0.2, 0.7, and 1.0 g cm(-3)) was studied by atomistic molecular dynamics simulations using the CHARMM36 force field and TIP3P water. The Gibbs energy of dissolution was determined between a nanocrystal (4 x 4 x 20 anhydroglucose residues) and a fully dissociated state using the two-phase thermodynamics model. The analysis of Gibbs energy suggested that cellulose is soluble in supercritical water at each of the studied densities and that cellulose dissolution is typically driven by the entropy gain upon the chain dissociation while simultaneously hindered by the loss of solvent entropy. Chain dissociation caused density augmentation around the cellulose chains, which improved water-water bonding in low density supercritical water whereas the opposite occurred in ambient and high density supercritical water.
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| 3. |
- Wang, Yan, et al.
(författare)
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Molecular Adhesion at Clay Nanocomposite Interfaces Depends on Counterion Hydration-Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Montmorillonite/Xyloglucan
- 2015
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Ingår i: Biomacromolecules. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1525-7797 .- 1526-4602. ; 16:1, s. 257-265
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nacre-mimetic clay/polymer nanocomposites with clay platelet orientation parallel to the film surface show interesting gas barrier and mechanical properties. In moist conditions, interfacial adhesion is lowered and mechanical properties are reduced. Molecular dynamic simulations (MD) have been performed to investigate the effects of counterions on molecular adhesion at montmorillonite clay (Mnt)-xyloglucan (XG) interfaces. We focus on the role of monovalent cations K+, Na+, and Li+ and the divalent cation Ca2+ for mediating and stabilizing the Mnt/XG complex formation. The conformation of adsorbed XG is strongly influenced by the choice of counterion and so is the simulated work of adhesion. Free energy profiles that are used to estimate molecular adhesion show stronger interaction between XG and clay in the monovalent cation system than in divalent cation system, following a decreasing order of K-Mnt, Na-Mnt, Li-Mnt, and Ca-Mnt. The Mnt clay hydrates differently in the presence of different counterions, leading to a chemical potential of water that is highest in the case of K-Mnt, followed by Na-Mnt and Li-Mnt, and lowest in the case of Ca-Mnt. This means that water is most easily displaced from the interface in the case of K-Mnt, which contributes to the relatively high work of adhesion. In all systems, the penalty of replacing polymer with water at the interface gives a positive contribution to the work of adhesion of between 19 and 35%. Our work confirms the important role of counterions in mediating the adsorption of biopolymer XG to Mnt clays and predicts potassium or sodium as the best choice of counterions for a Mnt-based biocomposite design.
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| 4. |
- Wang, Yan, et al.
(författare)
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Molecular mechanisms for the adhesion of chitin and chitosan to montmorillonite clay
- 2015
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Ingår i: RSC Advances. - : RSC Publishing. - 2046-2069. ; 5:67, s. 54580-54588
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Molecular dynamics simulations have been performed to investigate molecular adhesion of chitin and chitosan oligomers to montmorillonite (Mnt) clay at different degrees of acetylation (DA, 0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100%) and different degree of protonation (DPr, 0%, 50%, 100% mimicking pH > 6.5, pH = 6.5, pH < 4, respectively) under fully hydrated conditions. Although the Mnt surface is negatively charged and a variation in DA also implies going from a positively charged oligomer at DA = 0% to a neutral oligomer at DA = 100%, the simulations show unexpectedly small variation of the total molecular adhesion as a function of DA. From our analysis we propose that this quantitatively similar adhesion arises from two different mechanisms. At low DA, the oligomer is rich in positively charged amino groups interacting strongly with the negatively charged surface by direct electrostatic interaction. On the other hand, at high DA, electrically neutral acetyl groups are strongly correlated with the Na+ counter ions, which are in all cases stuck at the surface and the counter ions seem to act as 'glue' between the acetyl groups and the Mnt. However, when protonation was decreased, adhesion was affected and significantly lowered at neutral conditions (DPr = 0%). The reason is concluded to be differences in charge distributions of the respective functional groups. A further investigation on the intramolecular hydrogen bonds formed in CHT or CHS shows that the adsorbed conformation of the polymer is also highly affected by DA. This work provides fundamental insights into adhesion mechanisms and is of potential importance for the development of polymer-clay based composite materials.
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| 5. |
- Wohlert, Jakob, et al.
(författare)
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A simple model for cellulose solubility in supercritical water
- 2015
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Ingår i: Nordic Pulp & Paper Research Journal. - : Walter de Gruyter GmbH. - 0283-2631 .- 2000-0669. ; 30:1, s. 14-19
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A simple model for the hydration of a polar molecule is developed in order to provide a description of cellulose solubility in water under ambient and supercritical conditions. The change in free energy upon hydration is regarded as the sum of the energy cost of forming a cavity and a polar contribution. The model is able to predict the existence of an optimal density for dissolution of polar solutes in supercritical water. Those results are in line with earlier experiments and simulations showing that water at high temperature and pressure dissolves cellulose, and that an optimal density for dissolution exists. The present study shows that the density dependence comes from the fact that both the cavity formation energy and the polar energy are highly density dependent but with opposing behaviour. The cavity formation energy increases with density, whereas the polar energy decreases. Based on the present model, it is possible to rationalize a few basic strategies regarding cellulose dissolution in aqueous media. To increase solubility, one can either increase the polar/electrostatic contribution, or more importantly, one can decrease the cost of cavity formation, e.g. by introducing co-solvents, changing temperature and/or pressure.
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| 6. |
- Chen, Pan, et al.
(författare)
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Alternative hydrogen bond models of cellulose II and IIII based on molecular force-fields and density functional theory
- 2015
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Ingår i: Cellulose. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0969-0239 .- 1572-882X. ; 22:3, s. 1485-1493
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Alternative hydrogen-bond structures were found for cellulose II and IIII based on molecular dynamics simulations using four force fields and energy optimization based on density functional theory. All the modeling results were in support to the new hydrogen-bonding network. The revised structures of cellulose II and IIII differ with the fiber diffraction models mainly in the orientation of two hydroxyl groups, namely, OH2 and OH6 forming hydrogen-bond chains perpendicular to the cellulose molecule. In the alternative structures, the sense of hydrogen bond is inversed but little difference can be seen in hydrogen bond geometries. The preference of these alternative hydrogen bond structures comes from the local stabilization of hydroxyl groups with respect to the beta carbon. On the other hand when simulated fiber diffraction patterns were compared with experimental ones, the current structure of cellulose II with higher energy and the alternative structure of cellulose IIII with lower energy were in better agreement.
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| 7. |
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