This three-year award supports U.S.-France cooperative research in chemical engineering between Peter A. Monson of the University of Massachusetts and Martin L. Rosinberg of the Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris. The investigators propose theoretical molecular studies on the adsorption of fluids in porous materials. They will examine mixtures where significant nonideal behavior occurs in the bulk fluid state in order to understand how the behavior of the fluids are modified by confinement in porous materials. Both the U.S. and French research groups have longstanding research programs in the statistical mechanics of adsorption. Dr. Monson and his research team bring to this collaboration expertise in Monte Carlo simulations of adsorption. This is complemented by Dr. Rosinberg's innovative theoretical approach based on density functional theory. The work will be supplemented by integral equation theories and analytic solutions of one dimensional models. Their combined efforts are aimed at validating the potential of this theoretical approach through comparisons with the results of Monte Carlo calculations. The topic is timely and has important technological applications ranging from adsorption separations to heterogeneous catalysis to modeling reservoir fluids in enhanced oil recovery.
