Microscopic structure and interaction analysis for supercritical carbon dioxide-ethanol mixtures: a Monte Carlo simulation study.

Configurational-bias Monte Carlo simulations in the isobaric-isothermal ensemble using the TraPPE-UA force field were performed to study the microscopic structures and molecular interactions of mixtures containing supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO(2)) and ethanol (EtOH). The binary vapor-liquid coexisting curves were calculated at 298.17, 333.2, and 353.2 K and are in excellent agreement with experimental results. For the first time, three important interactions, i.e., EtOH-EtOH hydrogen bonding, EtOH-CO(2) hydrogen bonding, and EtOH-CO(2) electron donor-acceptor (EDA) bonding, in the mixtures were fully analyzed and compared. The EtOH mole fraction, temperature, and pressure effect on the three interactions was investigated and then explained by the competition of interactions between EtOH and CO(2) molecules. Analysis of the microscopic structures indicates a strong preference for the formation of EtOH-CO(2) hydrogen-bonded tetramers and pentamers at higher EtOH compositions. The distribution of aggregation sizes and types shows that a very large EtOH-EtOH hydrogen-bonded network exists in the mixtures, while only linear EtOH-CO(2) hydrogen-bonded and EDA-bonded dimers and trimers are present. Further analysis shows that EtOH-CO(2) EDA complex is more stable than the hydrogen-bonded one.