Quasi-one-dimensional phase transitions in nanopores: Pore-pore correlation effects

For adsorbates confined within a single, sufficiently narrow cylindrical pore, no phase transitions occur because the system is too-close to the one-dimensional limit. We study the influence of intermolecular correlations between adsorbed molecules in neighboring cylindrical pores, using molecular simulation. For a simple model of methane in the molecular sieve ALPO(4)-5, we find that a phase transition between two fluid states (''gas'' and ''liquid'') occurs below a critical temperature that is depressed relative to the bulk value.