The mechanism of unconventional hydrocarbon formation: Hydrocarbon self-sealing and intermolecular forces

The successful development of unconventional hydrocarbons has significantly increased global hydrocarbon resources, promoted the growth of global hydrocarbon production and made a great breakthrough in classical oil and gas geology. The core mechanism of conventional hydrocarbon accumulation is the preservation of hydrocarbons by trap enrichment and buoyancy, while unconventional hydrocarbons are characterized by continuous accumulation and non-buoyancy accumulation. It is revealed that the key of formation mechanism of the unconventional reservoirs is the self-sealing of hydrocarbons driven by intermolecular forces. Based on the behavior of intermolecular forces and the corresponding self-sealing, the formation mechanisms of unconventional oil and gas can be classified into three categories:(1) thick oil and bitumen, which are dominated by large molecular viscous force and condensation force;(2) tight oil and gas, shale oil and gas and coal-bed methane, which are dominated by capillary forces and molecular adsorption;and(3) gas hydrate, which is dominated by intermolecular clathration. This study discusses in detail the characteristics, boundary conditions and geological examples of self-sealing of the five types of unconventional resources, and the basic principles and mathematical characterization of intermolecular forces. This research will deepen the understanding of formation mechanisms of unconventional hydrocarbons, improve the ability to predict and evaluate unconventional oil and gas resources, and promote the development and production techniques and potential production capacity of unconventional oil and gas.

Intermolecular and surface forces in atomic-scale manufacturing

Atomic and close-to-atomic scale manufacturing(ACSM)aims to provide techniques for manufacturing in various fields,such as circuit manufacturing,high energy physics equipment,and medical devices and materials.The realization of atomic scale material manipulation depending on the theoretical system of classical mechanics faces great challenges.Understanding and using intermolecular and surface forces are the basis for better designing of ACSM.Transformation of atoms based on scanning tunneling microscopy or atomic force microscopy(AFM)is an essential process to regulate intermolecular interactions.Self-assemble process is a thermodynamic process involving complex intermolecular forces.The competition of these interaction determines structure assembly and packing geometry.For typical nanomachining processes including AFM nanomachining and chemical mechanical polishing,the coupling of chemistry and stress(tribochemistry)assists in the removal of surface atoms.Furthermore,based on the principle of triboelectrochemistry,we expect a further reduction of the potential barrier,and a potential application in high-efficiency atoms removal and fabricating functional coating.Future fundamental research is proposed for achieving high-efficiency and high-accuracy manufacturing with the aiding of external field.This review highlights the significant contribution of intermolecular and surface forces to ACSM,and may accelerate its progress in the in-depth investigation of fundamentals.

A Revisited Definition of the Three Solute Descriptors Related to the Van der Waals Forces in Solutions

It is currently admitted that the intermolecular forces implicated in Gas Liquid Chromatography (GLC) can be expressed as a product of parameters (or descriptors) of solutes and of parameters of solvents. The present study is limited to those of solutes, and among them the three ones are involved in the Van der Waals forces, whereas the two ones involved in the hydrogen bonding are left aside at this stage. These three studied parameters, which we call δ, ω and ε, respectively reflect the three types of Van der Waals forces: dispersion, orientation or polarity strictly speaking, and induction-polarizability. These parameters have been experimentally obtained in previous studies for 121 Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) via an original Multiplicative Matrix Analysis (MMA) applied to a superabundant and accurate GLC data set. Then, also in previous studies, attempts have been made to predict these parameters via a Simplified Molecular Topology procedure (SMT). Because these last published results have been somewhat disappointing, a promising new strategy of prediction is developed and detailed in the present article.

Probing the Interfacial Forces and Surface Interaction Mechanisms in Petroleum Production Processes

Despite the advances that have been made in renewable energy over the past decade,crude oil or petroleum remains one of the most important energy resources to the world.Petroleum production presents many challenging issues,such as the destabilization of complex oil-water emulsions,fouling phenomena on pipelines and other facilities,and water treatment.These problems are influenced by the molecular forces at the oil/water/solid/gas interfaces involved in relevant processes.Herein,we present an overview of recent advances on probing the interfacial forces in several petroleum production processes(e.g.,bitumen extraction,emulsion stabilization and destabilization,fouling and antifouling phenomena,and water treatment)by applying nanomechanical measurement technologies such as a surface forces apparatus(SFA)and an atomic force microscope(AFM).The interaction forces between bitumen and mineral solids or air bubbles in the surrounding fluid media determine the bitumen liberation and flotation efficiency in oil sands production.The stability of complex oil/water emulsions is governed by the forces between emulsion drops and particularly between interface-active species(e.g.,asphaltenes).Various oil components(e.g.,asphaltenes)and emulsion drops interact with different substrate surfaces(e.g.,pipelines or membranes),influencing fouling phenomena,oil-water separation,and wastewater treatment.Quantifying these intermolecular and interfacial forces has advanced the mechanistic understanding of these interfacial interactions,facilitating the development of advanced materials and technologies to solve relevant challenging issues and improve petroleum production processes.Remaining challenges and suggestions on future research directions in the field are also presented.

Effects of size-dependent elasticity on stability of nanotweezers

It is well-recognized that the electromechanical response of a nanostructure is affected by its element size. In the present article, the size dependent stability behavior and nanotweezers fabricated from nanowires are investigated by modified couple stress elasticity （MCSE）. The governing equation of the nanotweezers is obtained by taking into account the presence of Coulomb and intermolecular attractions. To solve the equation, four techniques, i.e., the modified variational iteration method （MVIM）, the monotonic iteration method （MIM）, the MAPLE numerical solver, and a lumped model, are used. The variations of the arm displacement of the tweezers versus direct current （DC） voltage are obtained. The instability parameters, i.e., pull-in voltage and deflection of the system, are computed. The results show that size-dependency will affect the stability of the nanotweezers significantly if the diameter of the nanowire is of the order of the length scale. The impact of intermolecular attraction on the size-dependent stability of the system is discussed.

Anisotropic formation mechanism and nanomechanics for the self-assembly process of cross-β peptides

Nanostructures self-assembled by cross-β peptides with ordered structures and advantageous mechanical properties have many potential applications in biomaterials and nanotechnologies. Quantifying the intra-and inter-molecular driving forces for peptide self-assembly at the atomistic level is essential for understanding the formation mechanism and nanomechanics of various morphologies of self-assembled peptides. We investigate the thermodynamics of the intra-and inter-sheet structure formations in the self-assembly process of cross-β peptide KⅢIK by means of steered molecular dynamics simulation combined with umbrella sampling. It is found that the mechanical properties of the intra-and inter-sheet structures are highly anisotropic with their intermolecular bond stiffness at the temperature of 300 K being 5.58 N/m and 0.32 N/m, respectively. This mechanical anisotropy comes from the fact that the intra-sheet structure is stabilized by enthalpy but the inter-sheet structure is stabilized by entropy. Moreover, the formation process of KⅢIK intra-sheet structure is cooperatively driven by the van der Waals （VDW） interaction between the hydrophobic side chains and the electrostatic interaction between the hydrophilic backbones, but that of the inter-sheet structure is primarily driven by the VDW interaction between the hydrophobic side chains. Although only peptide KⅢIK is studied, the qualitative conclusions on the formation mechanism should also apply to other cross-β peptides.

Weak interaction-steered evolution of polyoxovanadate-based metal-organic polyhedra from transformation via interlock to packing

A bottleneck in biomimetic synthesis consists in the full copy of,for example,the hierarchical structure of proteins directed by weak interactions.By contrast with covalent bonds bearing definite orientation and high stability,weak intermolecular forces within a continuous dynamic equilibrium can be hardly tamed for molecular design.In this endeavor,a ligand-dominated strategy that embodies tunable electrostatic repulsion andπ···πstacking was first employed to shape polyoxovanadate-based metal-organic polyhedra(VMOPs).Structural evolution involving transformation,interlock,and discovery of an unprecedented prototype of the Star of David was hence achievable.Not only as a handy tool for the primary structural control over VMOPs,these weak forces allow for an advanced management on the spatial distribution of such manmade macromolecules as well as the associated physicochemical behaviors,representing an ideal model for simulating and interpreting the conformation-function relationship of proteins.

Self-healing Hydrogelsand Underlying Reversible Intermolecular Interactions

Self-healing hydrogels have attracted growing attention over the past decade due to their biomimetic structure,biocompatibility,as well as enhanced lifespan and reliability,thereby have been widely used in various biomedical,electrical and environmental engineering applications.This feature article has reviewed our recent progress in self-healing hydrogels derived from mussel-inspired interactions,multiple hydrogen-bonding functional groups such as 2-ureido-4[1H]-pyrimidinohe(UPy),dynamic covalent bonds(eg,Schiff base reactions and boronic ester bonds).The underlying molecular basics of these interactions,hydrogel preparation principles,and corresponding performances and applications are introduced.The underlying reversible intermolecular interaction mechanisms in these hydrogels were investigated using nanomechanical techniques such as surface forces apparatus(SFA)and atomic force microscopy(AFM),providing fundamental insights into the self-healing mechanisms of the hydrogels.The remaining challenging issues and perspectives in this rapidly developing research area are also discussed.