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Title: Nuclear quantum effects on the structure and the dynamics of [H{sub 2}O]{sub 8} at low temperatures

Journal Article · · Journal of Chemical Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4827935· OSTI ID:22251521
 [1];  [2]
  1. Departamento de Química Inorgánica Analítica y Química-Física e INQUIMAE, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón II, 1428 Buenos Aires (Argentina)
  2. Department of Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712-0165 (United States)

We use ring-polymer-molecular-dynamics (RPMD) techniques and the semi-empirical q-TIP4P/F water model to investigate the relationship between hydrogen bond connectivity and the characteristics of nuclear position fluctuations, including explicit incorporation of quantum effects, for the energetically low lying isomers of the prototype cluster [H{sub 2}O]{sub 8} at T = 50 K and at 150 K. Our results reveal that tunneling and zero-point energy effects lead to sensible increments in the magnitudes of the fluctuations of intra and intermolecular distances. The degree of proton spatial delocalization is found to map logically with the hydrogen-bond connectivity pattern of the cluster. Dangling hydrogen bonds exhibit the largest extent of spatial delocalization and participate in shorter intramolecular O-H bonds. Combined effects from quantum and polarization fluctuations on the resulting individual dipole moments are also examined. From the dynamical side, we analyze the characteristics of the infrared absorption spectrum. The incorporation of nuclear quantum fluctuations promotes red shifts and sensible broadening relative to the classical profile, bringing the simulation results in much more satisfactory agreement with direct experimental information in the mid and high frequency range of the stretching band. While RPMD predictions overestimate the peak position of the low frequency shoulder, the overall agreement with that reported using an accurate, parameterized, many-body potential is reasonable, and far superior to that one obtains by implementing a partially adiabatic centroid molecular dynamics approach. Quantum effects on the collective dynamics, as reported by instantaneous normal modes, are also discussed.

OSTI ID:
22251521
Journal Information:
Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 139, Issue 17; Other Information: (c) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-9606
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English