Novel Insights into Nanopore Deformation Caused by Capillary Condensation

By means of in situ small-angle x-ray diffraction experiments and semi-grand-canonical ensemble Monte Carlo simulations we demonstrate that sorption and condensation of a fluid confined within nanopores is capable of deforming the pore walls. At low pressures the pore is widened due to a repulsive interaction caused by collisions of the fluid molecules with the walls. At capillary condensation the pores contract abruptly on account of attractive fluid-wall interactions whereas for larger pressures they expand again. These features cannot solely be accounted for by effects related to pore-wall curvature but have to be attributed to fluid-wall dispersion forces instead.