Instantaneous, parameter-free methods to define a solute’s hydration shell
- Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies, Schloss-Wolfsbrunnenweg 35, 69118 Heidelberg (Germany)
- Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, The University of Manchester, 131 Princess Street, Manchester M1 7DN (United Kingdom)
A range of methods are presented to calculate a solute’s hydration shell from computer simulations of dilute solutions of monatomic ions and noble gas atoms. The methods are designed to be parameter-free and instantaneous so as to make them more general, accurate, and consequently applicable to disordered systems. One method is a modified nearest-neighbor method, another considers solute-water Lennard-Jones overlap followed by hydrogen-bond rearrangement, while three methods compare various combinations of water-solute and water-water forces. The methods are tested on a series of monatomic ions and solutes and compared with the values from cutoffs in the radial distribution function, the nearest-neighbor distribution functions, and the strongest-acceptor hydrogen bond definition for anions. The Lennard-Jones overlap method and one of the force-comparison methods are found to give a hydration shell for cations which is in reasonable agreement with that using a cutoff in the radial distribution function. Further modifications would be required, though, to make them capture the neighboring water molecules of noble-gas solutes if these weakly interacting molecules are considered to constitute the hydration shell.
- OSTI ID:
- 22493349
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 143, Issue 23; Other Information: (c) 2015 Author(s); Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-9606
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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