A DFT Study of the Hydrophobicity of Silicalite
Factors that influence water adsorption in silicalite were studied. It was found that the energy of adsorption becomes less stable as water molecules are loaded in the silicalite structure. A structure with one water molecule was found to have an energy of -14.42 KJ/mol while one with three molecules was -8.6 KJ/mol. It was also demonstrated that water prefers to diffuse through the larger 10 ring channels as opposed to the small 4 ring channels.