Séminaire
Vendredi 17 Octobre 2025 à 11h00.
Insights into Salt Precipitation and Water Dynamics at Crystal Interfaces: From Molecular Adsorption to Precipitate Morphology
Alexander Schlaich
( Institut für Physik funktionaler Materialien)
Salle de séminaires Lippmann
Invité(e) par
Claire Loison
présentera en 1 heure :
''Résumé / Abstract :
Salt precipitation is the major source of agricultural land loss due to soil salinization. Like many processes in water treatment or energy storage, it is dictated by nanoscale hydration and electrostatic interactions at crystal interfaces. Additionally, the intricate interplay between the water structure and its dynamics at interfaces determine the resulting morphology and evaporation dynamics.
In this talk I will sketch our rigorous bottom-up approach to provide valuable insights relevant for the engineering scale. This starts from the transition of individual water molecules adsorbed on an interface performing a random walk motion to fluid-dynamic behavior upon increasing the humidity [1]. Water dynamics in a porous material can differ substantially from its counterpart in bulk [2]. NMR relaxation measurements provide a direct way to probe such dynamics and allow for a direct comparison between the confined systems and bulk behavior [3]. If the surface relaxation is slow, first return passage time calculations allow extracting valuable insight on surface chemistry or confinement strength [4]. Using atomistic simulations, we further study the interplay between adsorption, electrostatic interactions and hydration of different salts on the resulting crystal morphology [5].
[1] S. Gravelle, C. Holm, A. Schlaich, J. Chem. Phys. 2022, 157 (10), 104702.
[2] A. Schlaich, J.-L. Barrat, B. Coasne. Chem. Rev. 2025, 125 (5), 2561–2624.
[3] S. Gravelle, S. Haber-Pohlmeier, C. Mattea, S. Stapf, C. Holm, A. Schlaich. Langmuir 2023, 39 (22), 7548–7556.
[4] S. Gravelle, B. Coasne, C. Holm, A. Schlaich. Phys. Rev. E 2025, 112 (3), 035502.
[5] A. Agrawal, S. Gravelle, C. Holm, A. Schlaich. Under Revision 2025.
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