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Hydrodynamic forces in stirred solutions induce chirality in some supramolecular species of J-aggregates, as detected at the level of the electronic transition. However, the mechanism that explains the phenomenon remains to be elucidated, although the basic effect of hydrodynamic gradients of the shear rate is most probably the folding or bending of the nanoparticles in solution. Herein, we demonstrate a correlation between chiral flows in different regions of circular and square stirred cuvettes and the emergence of true circular dichroism (CD). The results show that chaotic flows lead to a racemic mixture of chiral shaped supramolecular species, and vortical flows to scalemic mixtures. In a magnetically stirred flask the descending and ascending flows are of different chiral sign and the CD reading depends on the weighting of these two flows of inverse chiral sign. The effect of the gradient of shear rates of the flows leading to chiral shape objects depends on the shape of the cuvette, which suggests that the flask shape and the controlled addition of reagents in defined regions of the stirred solutions may exert a control in self-assembly processes.

The J aggregates of 4-sulfonatophenyl meso-substituted porphyrins are non-covalent polymers obtained by self-assembly that form nanoparticles of different morphologies. In the case of high aspect-ratio nanoparticles (bilayered ribbons and monolayered nanotubes), shear hydrodynamic forces may modify their shape and size, as observed by peak force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy of frozen solutions, small-angle X-ray scattering measurements in a disk-plate rotational cell, and cone-plate rotational viscometry. These nanoparticles either show elastic or plastic behaviour: there is plasticity in the ribbons obtained upon nanotube collapse on solid/air interfaces and in viscous concentrated nanotube solutions, whereas elasticity occurs in the case of dilute nanotube solutions. Sonication and strong shear hydrodynamic forces lead to the breaking of the monolayered nanotubes into small particles, which then associate into large colloidal particles.

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A modified version of the adsorption-diffusion model derived form the Maxwell-Stefan theory developed in a previous study (Pera-Titus, et al. Catal. Today 2006, 118, 73) is presented in this paper to describe the dehydration behavior of zeolite NaA membranes for pervaporation of ethanol/water mixtures. Compared to the former version, two additional contributions are included in the model: (1) the adsorbed solution theory of Myers and Prausnitz is used instead of the extended Langmuir isotherm to account for binary adsorption equilibria of water and ethanol on zeolite A, and (2) the explicit role of pressure-driven mechanisms in large intercrystalline defects (macrodefects) to permeation is considered. These refinements in the Maxwell-Stefan equations provide a superior description of solvent dehydration using zeolite NaA membranes. The fitted surface diffusivities at 323 K and at zero loading of water and ethanol for weak confinement show values in the order of 10 -12 and 10 -13 m 2 ‚s -1 , respectively. The former values are 3-4 orders of magnitude higher than those that have been measured from water adsorption kinetics experiments. This difference might be ascribed to a certain role of nanosized grain boundaries between adjacent zeolite A crystals. Grain boundaries might behave as fast diffusion paths or nanoscopic shortcuts due to anisotropy of zeolite layers, resulting in higher apparent water surface diffusivities and lower apparent activation energies for surface diffusion.

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Nanophases of J-aggregates of several achiral amphiphilic porphyrins, which have thin long acicular shapes (nanoribbons), show the immediate and reversible formation of a stationary mechano-chiral state in the solution by vortex stirring, as detected by their circular dichroic signals measured by 2-modulator generalized ellipsometry. The results suggest that when a macroscopic chiral force creates supramolecular chirality, it also creates an enantiomeric excess of screw distortions, which may be detected by their excitonic absorption. An explanation on the effect of the shear flow gradients is proposed on the basis of the orientation of the rotating particles in the vortex and the size, shape, and mechanical properties of the nanoparticles.