Adsorption-Induced Deformation of Slit-Shaped Ink-Bottle Pores

Abstract

We present grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations of methane adsorption in deformable ink-bottle pores with varying sizes. The simulations provide insights into the width change of the wide (cavity) and narrow (neck) sections in the ink-bottle pores during methane adsorption and the solvation pressure exerted by adsorbates on pore walls. We found that the deformation of the neck or cavity is not exclusively related to the solvation pressure directly exerted on it. The deformation is also controlled by a "bonded effect" such that the neck or cavity is affected by the solvation pressure in the other section of the ink-bottle pore. Thus, we confirm that the adsorption-induced deformation of the two sections in the ink-bottle pores could interact with each other through the "bonded effect." Our findings demonstrate that the adsorption-induced deformation of nanostructures is pore geometry-dependent.