Simulation of adsorption of liquid mixtures of N-2, and O-2 in a model faujasite cavity at 77.5 K

Grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations of adsorption of N-2 and O-2 and their mixtures in a model zeolitic cavity 14 Angstrom in diameter were performed at 77.5 K for pressures ranging from zero up to saturation, where the adsorbed phase is in equilibrium with coexisting vapor and liquid phases. The same intermolecular potential functions were employed for gas-gas interactions in the vapor, liquid, and adsorbed phases. The gas-solid interaction potential includes dispersion-repulsion energy, induced electrostatic energy, and an ion-quadrupole term to model the interaction of the electric field in zeolites like NaX with polar molecules like N-2. The simulation of the coexisting vapor and liquid phases reproduces the saturation properties of pure liquid oxygen and nitrogen at 77.5 K. Activity coefficients in the adsorbed phase derived from simulations as a function of cavity filling and composition show negative deviations from Raoult's law, even though the non-idealities in the bulk liquid phase have the opposite sign. The simulation of the surface excess isotherm for adsorption from liquid mixtures exhibits preferential adsorption of N-2 and has the commonly-observed quadratic shape skewed toward the more strongly adsorbed component. Micropore condensation is observed for oxygen but not for nitrogen. The condensation of oxygen is similar to a first order phase transition but because of the small number of molecules that can fit into a micropore, coexistence of the two phases is replaced by oscillations between gas- and liquid-like densities.