Dr. Gennady Gor
December 12, 2013
13.00 – 14.30
Beijing – 1 Auditorium, China cluster (Skolkovo School of Management)

SEMINAR ABSTRACT:
Typically porous adsorbents and catalysts (carbons, zeolites, silicas) are considered to be absolutely rigid for most of their applications. However, a number of experiments have shown that all porous materials deform upon adsorption of fluids. The character of such deformation may differ – it can be both expansion and contraction. The magnitude of deformation for the most of the materials is small, with the relative volume change of less than one percent. However, for some systems even such a small change can be critical. Particularly, adsorption-induced deformation is crucial for geological CO2 sequestration and enhanced recovery of natural gas. When carbon dioxide gets adsorbed by porous geological formations (coal beds or shale), the solid swells and larger pores and fractures may close, which dramatically decreases the permeability of the system. Also, adsorption-induced deformation cannot be neglected in the case of MOFs and aerogels, where the magnitude of deformation reaches as much as 30%.
In my presentation I will start from an overview of experimental observations of adsorption-induced deformation for different materials and will briefly discuss the experimental techniques for measuring this deformation. Then I will present a thermodynamic theory of this phenomenon based on the calculation of solvation pressure in the pores; I will show how this pressure can be calculated using macroscopic and molecular-based methods. I will further show the quantitative results for deformation of mesoporous silica which can be directly compared to the experimentally measured results. Finally, I will list some of the current challenges in the studies of adsorption-induced deformation.
SPEAKER INTRODUCTION:
Gennady Gor received his Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics at St. Petersburg State University, Russia, in 2009. In his thesis he developed a novel statistical approach to the kinetic theory of non-isothermal nucleation. During the following two years he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Rutgers University in the molecular simulations group of Prof. Alex Neimark. While at Rutgers, Dr. Gor developed a th eory of adsorption-induced deformation of mesoporous materials and worked out the molecular models for adsorption and transport of chemical warfare agents in polyelectrolyte membranes. He also elaborated methods for characterization of novel types of nanoporous carbons by nitrogen adsorption, which have been further implemented in commercial instruments by Quantachrome Inc. Since 2011 Dr. Gor is a postdoctoral research associate in the group of Prof. Jean Prevost at Princeton University. Current Dr. Gor’s research is mainly focused on continuum modeling of processes relevant to CO2 sequestration in geological porous media. He developed a computational model for simulations of CO2-brine mixtures leaks, which involves boiling. He also works with Prof. Craig Arnold (Princeton University) on developing a model for simulations of mechanical processes in lithium-ion batteries that cause their aging.