Microscopic Behaviors of Tri‑n‑Butyl Phosphate, n‑Dodecane, and Their Mixtures at Air/Liquid and Liquid/Liquid Interfaces: An AMBER Polarizable Force Field Study

• Published in: The journal of physical chemistry. B 2019-01, Vol.123 (3), p.655-665
• Main Authors: Vo, Quynh N, Dang, Liem X, Nguyen, Hung D, Nilsson, Mikael
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; interfacial tension; n-dodecane; polarizable force fields; PUREX; surface tension; TBP
• ISSN: 1520-6106; 1520-5207
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.8b08078

In solvent extraction processes for recovering metal ions from used nuclear fuel, as well as other industrial applications, a better understanding of the metal complex phase transfer phenomenon would greatly aid ligand design and process optimization. We have approached this challenge by utilizing the classical molecular dynamics simulations technique to gain visual appreciation of the vapor/liquid and liquid/liquid interface between tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) and n-dodecane with air and water. In this study, we successfully reparameterized polarizable force fields for TBP and n-dodecane that accurately reproduced several of their thermophysical properties such as density, heat of vaporization, and dipole moment. Our models were able to predict the surface and interfacial tension of different systems when compared to experimental results that were also performed by us. Through this study, we gained atomistic understanding of the behaviors of TBP and n-dodecane at the interface against air and water, useful in further computational studies of such systems. Finally, our studies indicate that the initial configuration of a simulation may have a large effect on the final result.