Kinetic Monte Carlo study of binary diffusion in silicalite

We report a Kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) study of the diffusion of linear n-hexane (nC6) and 2,2-dimethylbutane (22DMB) mixture in zeolite silicalite. We first investigated the loading dependences of single component self- and corrected diffusivities of nC6 at 300 K. Anisotropic transition rates are implemented to account for the distribution of the molecules within the zeolite framework. Repulsive guest-guest interactions are modeled using the parameter introduced by Reed and Ehrlich (Surf. Sci. 102:588–601, 1981). The results are in good agreement with recent experimental Quasi Elastic Neutron Scattering data of Jobic et al. (J. Phys. Chem. B 110:2195–2201, 2006), although the influence of the adsorption isotherm inflection is not reproduced. The binary diffusion study of nC6/22DMB mixtures was performed by implementing the nC6 transition rates used for the single component study while 22DMB molecules propagate via intersection-intersection hops. This KMC model allows for different saturation capacities and accounts for interactions between molecules by introducing fij parameters. Results show the large impact of guest-guest interactions between nC6 and 22DMB on both self- and corrected diffusivities of the two components. Molecule-size effects are found to be predominant near 22DMB saturation capacity. Acceleration/deceleration effects already described in the literature are confirmed.