Open-system Monte Carlo simulations of Xe in NaA

The grand canonical ensemble Monte Carlo method is used to determine the adsorption isotherm, energy, entropy, occupancy distribution, and density distribution of Xe atoms adsorbed in zeolite NaA, which is modeled as a single alpha cage and as a network of connected cages. The isotherms exhibit multiple plateaus, indicating the existence of certain favored loadings. These plateaus can be predicted by considering constant loading energy and density distributions found previously. A linear regression method of determining the constant loading entropy of Xe atoms is presented. The entropy is a smooth function of loading, which suggests that the structure of the adsorbed Xe is also smoothly varying. The pressures needed to obtain complete loading are quite large and beyond the range of conventional experiment. However, the simulated isotherm and occupancy distribution compare well with the available experimental data. Structural modifications of NaA in the form of cation removal are investigated. A cation-poor model NaA adsorbs fewer Xe at low chemical potential due to its smaller electric field, but has a larger overall adsorption capacity due to its greater accessible volume.