Surface properties of the polarizable Baranyai-Kiss water model

The water surface properties using the Baranyai-Kiss (BK) model [A. Baranyai and P. T. Kiss, J. Chem. Phys. 133, 144109 (2010)] are studied by molecular dynamics simulation, and compared to popular rigid water potentials, namely to the extended simple point charge (SPC/E) and the transferable interaction potential with 4 points (TIP4P) models. The BK potential is a polarizable model of water with three Gaussian charges. The negative charge is connected to its field-free position by a classical harmonic spring, and mechanical equilibrium is established between this spring force and the force due to the charge distribution of the system. The aim of this study is, on the one hand, to test the surface properties of the new model, and on the other hand, to identify differences between the models listed above. The obtained results reveal that the BK model reproduces very well a number of properties corresponding to liquid-vapor equilibrium, such as the coexisting liquid and vapor densities, saturated vapor pressure or surface tension. Further, this model reproduces excellently the critical point of water even in comparison with a large number of widely used polarizable and nonpolarizable models. The structural properties of the liquid surface of BK water turns out to be very similar to that of the SPC/E model, while the surface of TIP4P water is found to be somewhat less ordered. This finding is related to the fact that the critical temperature of the TIP4P model is lower than that of either SPC/E or BK.     

Molecular dynamics simulations of vapor/liquid coexistence using the nonpolarizable water models

The surface tension, vapor-liquid equilibrium densities, and equilibrium pressure for common water models were calculated using molecular dynamics simulations over temperatures ranging from the melting to the critical points. The TIP4P/2005 and TIP4P-i models produced better values for the surface tension than the other water models. We also examined the correlation of the data to scaling temperatures based on the critical and melting temperatures. The reduced temperature (T/T(c)) gives consistent equilibrium densities and pressure, and the shifted temperature T + (T(c, exp) - T(c, sim)) gives consistent surface tension among all models considered in this study. The modified fixed charge model which has the same Lennard-Jones parameters as the TIP4P-FQ model but uses an adjustable molecular dipole moment is also simulated to find the differences in the vapor-liquid coexistence properties between fixed and fluctuating charge models. The TIP4P-FQ model (2.72 Debye) gives the best estimate of the experimental surface tension. The equilibrium vapor density and pressure are unaffected by changes in the dipole moment as well as the surface tension and liquid density.     

Prediction of thermodynamic, transport and vapor-liquid equilibrium properties of binary mixtures of ethylene glycol and water

Equilibrium and non-equilibrium molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulation techniques were applied to predict various thermodynamic, transport and vapor-liquid equilibrium properties of binary mixtures of ethylene glycol and water (EG-W) based on OPLS-AA and SPC/E force fields. The properties predicted include density, vaporization enthalpy, enthalpy of mixing, heat capacities, diffusion coefficients, shear viscosities, thermal conductivities, vapor-liquid coexistence isotherms and isobaric curves, and saturation vapor pressures. Good agreements with experimental data were obtained for most of these properties. Errors are mostly related to inaccuracy found in predictions of pure fluids; a correction to prediction of pure substance can systematically improve prediction for the mixture. This work suggests that OPLS-AA and SPC/E force fields using the common combining rules are transferable for predicting multiple physical properties of EG-W mixtures.     

Accurate thermodynamic and dielectric equations of state for high-temperature simulated water

The thermodynamic and dielectric properties of the simple point charge extended (SPC/E) water model are examined over wide temperature and density range by means of molecular dynamic simulations. Accurate analytical thermodynamic and dielectric equations of state for the SPC/E pair-potential are presented. Parameterizations cover a broad range of high temperature states including the critical region. The critical point parameters of SPC/E water were determined to be ρ_c = 0.276 g/cm³, T_c = 640.25 K and p_c = 164.37 bar. The value of the static dielectric constant of SPC/E water at its critical point was calculated to be 5.35, which compares remarkably well with the corresponding experimental value of 5.36. Analytical thermodynamic and dielectric equations for the saturated liquid and vapor densities are also given.     

Critical and phase-equilibrium properties of an ab initio based potential model of methanol and 1-propanol using two-phase molecular dynamics simulations

Two-phase molecular dynamics simulations employing a Monte Carlo volume sampling method were performed using an ab initio based force field model parameterized to reproduce quantum-mechanical dimer energies for methanol and 1-propanol at temperatures approaching the critical temperature. The intermolecular potential models were used to obtain the binodal vapor-liquid phase dome at temperatures to within about 10 K of the critical temperature. The efficacy of two all-atom, site-site pair potential models, developed solely from the energy landscape obtained from high-level ab initio pair interactions, was tested for the first time. The first model was regressed from the ab initio landscape without point charges using a modified Morse potential to model the complete interactions; the second model included point charges to separate Coulombic and dispersion interactions. Both models produced equivalent phase domes and critical loci. The model results for the critical temperature, density, and pressure, in addition to the sub-critical equilibrium vapor and liquid densities and vapor pressures, are compared to experimental data. The model's critical temperature for methanol is 77 K too high while that for 1-propanol is 80 K too low, but the critical densities are in good agreement. These differences are likely attributable to the lack of multi-body interactions in the true pair potential models used here.     

Does water condense in carbon pores?

Using grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations of molecular models, we investigate the nature of water adsorption and desorption in slit pores with graphitelike surfaces. Special emphasis is placed on the question of whether water exhibits capillary condensation (i.e., condensation when the external pressure is below the bulk vapor pressure). Three models of water have been considered. These are the SPC and SPC/E models and a model where the hydrogen bonding is described by tetrahedrally coordinated square-well association sites. The water-carbon interaction was described by the Steele 10-4-3 potential. In addition to determining adsorption/desorption isotherms, we also locate the states where vapor-liquid equilibrium occurs for both the bulk and confined states of the models. We find that for wider pores (widths >1 nm), condensation does not occur in the GCMC simulations until the pressure is higher than the bulk vapor pressure, P0. This is consistent with a physical picture where a lack of hydrogen bonding with the graphite surface destabilizes dense water phases relative to the bulk. For narrow pores where the slit width is comparable to the molecular diameter, strong dispersion interactions with both carbon surfaces can stabilize dense water phases relative to the bulk so that pore condensation can occur for P < P0 in some cases. For the narrowest pores studied--a pore width of 0.6 nm--pore condensation is again shifted to P > P0. The phase-equilibrium calculations indicate vapor-liquid coexistence in the slit pores for P < P0 for all but the narrowest pores. We discuss the implications of our results for interpreting water adsorption/desorption isotherms in porous carbons.     

Comparison of rigid and flexible simple point charge water models at supercritical conditions

This study investigates the differences between the predictions of various properties of rigid and flexible simple point charge water models at supercritical conditions. Molecular dynamics simulations were conducted for supercritical water in a temperature range of 773–1073 K and densities in the range 115–659 kg/m³. We present thermodynamic data, pair correlation functions, self-diffusivity, power spectra, dielectric constants, and variaous measures of hydrogen bonding at different state conditions. The flexible water model performs better in predicting the pressures along the supercritical isotherms simulated. Agreement between experimental and calculated dielectric constants is superior for the flexible water model, particularly at high densities. The flexible model exhibits a greater degree of hydrogen bonding and more persistent hydrogen bonds than does the rigid model. The structural features of supercritical water at high densities are identical for the two water models. At low densities, however, the flexible potential exhibits pair correlation functions with enhanced peaks. Inclusion of flexibility in the potential model does not result in a significant shift in the position of the rotational/librational peak in the power spectrum. The self-diffusivities obtained from the simulations are within the accuracy of the experimental values for both the rigid and flexible models. On balance the inclusion of flexibility improves agreement with the properties of real supercritical water while incurring little or no additional computational burden. © 1996 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Improvement in molecule exchange efficiency in Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo: development and implementation of the continuous fractional component move

The continuous fractional component Monte Carlo (CFC MC) move (J Chem Theory Comput, 2007, 3, 1451) is extended to the Gibbs ensemble. The algorithm is validated against conventional simulations for the Lennard Jones fluid and a flexible water model. The method is also used to compute the vapor-liquid coexistence densities of a model for SO(2). The CFC molecule exchange move relies on the gradual insertion and deletion of molecules in conjunction with a self-adapting bias potential. As a result, the method does not require the formation of spontaneous voids in the dense fluid phase to be successful, leading to molecule exchange acceptance probabilities that are nearly independent of temperature. For example, over 1% of the vapor-liquid molecule exchange moves are successful for water at 280 K, whereas advanced rotational and configurational bias methods have success rates of less than 0.03%. The CFC move can be combined with other Monte Carlo moves to enable efficient simulation of dense strongly associating fluids that are to this point infeasible to model with standard methods.     

The melting temperature of the most common models of water

The melting temperature of ice I(h) for several commonly used models of water (SPC, SPC/E,TIP3P,TIP4P, TIP4P/Ew, and TIP5P) is obtained from computer simulations at p = 1 bar. Since the melting temperature of ice I(h) for the TIP4P model is now known [E. Sanz, C. Vega, J. L. F. Abascal, and L. G. MacDowell, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 255701 (2004)], it is possible to use the Gibbs-Duhem methodology [D. Kofke, J. Chem. Phys. 98, 4149 (1993)] to evaluate the melting temperature of ice I(h) for other potential models of water. We have found that the melting temperatures of ice I(h) for SPC, SPC/E, TIP3P, TIP4P, TIP4P/Ew, and TIP5P models are T = 190 K, 215 K, 146 K, 232 K, 245 K, and 274 K, respectively. The relative stability of ice I(h) with respect to ice II for these models has also been considered. It turns out that for SPC, SPC/E, TIP3P, and TIP5P the stable phase at the normal melting point is ice II (so that ice I(h) is not a thermodynamically stable phase for these models). For TIP4P and TIP4P/Ew, ice I(h) is the stable solid phase at the standard melting point. The location of the negative charge along the H-O-H bisector appears as a critical factor in the determination of the relative stability between the I(h) and II ice forms. The methodology proposed in this paper can be used to investigate the effect upon a coexistence line due to a change in the potential parameters.     

Higher-order virial coefficients of water models

We use the Mayer sampling method, with both direct and overlap sampling, to calculate and compare classical virial coefficients up to B6 for various water models (SPC, SPC/E, MSPC/E, TIP3P, and TIP4P). The precision of the computed values ranges from 0.1% for B2 to an average of 25% for B6. When expressed in a form scaled by the critical properties, the values of the coefficients for SPC water are observed to greatly exceed the magnitude of corresponding coefficients for the simple Lennard-Jones model. We examine the coefficients in the context of the equation of state and the Joule-Thomson coefficient. Comparisons of these properties are made both to established molecular simulation data for each respective model and to real water. For all models, the virial series up to B5 describes the equation of state along the saturated vapor line better than the series that includes B6. At supercritical temperatures, however, the sixth-order series often describes pressure-volume-temperature behavior better than the fifth-order series. For example, the sixth-order virial equation of state for SPC/E water predicts the 673 K isotherm within 8% of published molecular simulation values up to a density of 9 mol/L (roughly half the critical density of SPC/E water).     

Hydroxyl radical in aqueous solution: Computer simulation

Molecular dynamics simulations of hydroxyl radical in water are carried out by use of a classical simple point charge extended (SPC/E) water model and a similar point charge model for hydroxyl radical. Structural and dynamical properties are studied along the coexistence curve of SPC/E water at 298, 373, 473, 573, and 633 K and above its critical point at 683, 733, 783, and 833 K with density fixed at 0.3 g/cm3. Dramatic changes in the diffusion dynamics of water and hydroxyl radical near the critical point are related to the reorganization of the three-dimensional structure of water around hydroxyl radical, as revealed by the study of the spatial distribution functions. This study helps us understand the kinetics of oxidation reactions in high-temperature water.     

A comparison of the value of viscosity for several water models using Poiseuille flow in a nano-channel

The viscosity-temperature relation is determined for the water models SPC/E, TIP4P, TIP4P/Ew, and TIP4P/2005 by considering Poiseuille flow inside a nano-channel using molecular dynamics. The viscosity is determined by fitting the resulting velocity profile (away from the walls) to the continuum solution for a Newtonian fluid and then compared to experimental values. The results show that the TIP4P/2005 model gives the best prediction of the viscosity for the complete range of temperatures for liquid water, and thus it is the preferred water model of these considered here for simulations where the magnitude of viscosity is crucial. On the other hand, with the TIP4P model, the viscosity is severely underpredicted, and overall the model performed worst, whereas the SPC/E and TIP4P/Ew models perform moderately.     

Monte Carlo simulations of critical cluster sizes and nucleation rates of water

We have calculated the critical cluster sizes and homogeneous nucleation rates of water at temperatures and vapor densities corresponding to experiments by Wolk and Strey [J. Phys. Chem B 105, 11683 (2001)]. The calculations have been done with an expanded version of a Monte Carlo method originally developed by Vehkamaki and Ford [J. Chem. Phys. 112, 4193 (2000)]. Their method calculates the statistical growth and decay probabilities of molecular clusters. We have derived a connection between these probabilities and kinetic condensation and evaporation rates, and introduce a new way for the calculation of the work of formation of clusters. Three different interaction potential models of water have been used in the simulations. These include the unpolarizable SPC/E [J. Phys. Chem. 91, 6269 (1987)] and TIP4P [J. Chem. Phys. 79, 926 (1983)] models and a polarizable model by Guillot and Guissani [J. Chem. Phys. 114, 6720 (2001)]. We show that TIP4P produces critical cluster sizes and a temperature and vapor density dependence for the nucleation rate that agree well with the experimental data, although the magnitude of nucleation rate is constantly overestimated by a factor of 2 x 10(4). Guissani and Guillot's model is somewhat less successful, but both the TIP4P and Guillot and Guissani models are able to reproduce a much better experimental temperature dependency of the nucleation rate than the classical nucleation theory. Using SPC/E results in dramatically too small critical clusters and high nucleation rates. The water models give different average binding energies for clusters. We show that stronger binding between cluster molecules suppresses the decay probability of a cluster, while the growth probability is not affected. This explains the differences in results from different water models.     

A novel approach for designing simple point charge models for liquid water with three interaction sites

A simultaneous improvement of the diffusion and dielectric properties of the simple point charge (SPC) model for liquid water appears to be very difficult with conventional reparametrization of the commonly used Lennard-Jones and Coulomb interaction functions and without including a self-energy correction in the effective pair-potential as is done in the SPC/E model. Here, a different approach to circumvent this problem is presented. A short-range interaction term, which corrects the oxygen-oxygen energy at small distances by small amounts of energy, was introduced in the nonbonded interaction function. This additional force-field term allows to derive new parameter sets for SPC-like water models that yield better agreement with experimental data on liquid water. Based on previous investigations of the force-field parameter dependence of the water properties of SPC-like models, the necessary parameter changes to obtain a lower diffusion coefficient and a larger dielectric permittivity were specified and accordingly six new models were developed. They all represent an improvement over SPC in terms of structural and diffusional properties, four of them show better dielectric properties also. One model, SPC/S, has been characterized in more detail, and represents most properties of liquid water better than SPC while avoiding the larger discrepancies with experimental values regarding density, thermal compressibility, energy, and free energy of the SPC/E model. We conclude that the use of a simple, short-ranged additional oxygen-oxygen interaction term makes a simultaneous improvement of the diffusion coefficient and the dielectric properties of water feasible.     

Dynamical properties of the soft sticky dipole-quadrupole-octupole water model: a molecular dynamics study

The dynamical properties of the soft sticky dipole-quadrupole-octupole (SSDQO) water model using SPC/E moments are calculated utilizing molecular dynamics simulations. This new potential for liquid water describes the water-water interactions by a Lennard-Jones term and a sticky potential, which is an approximate moment expansion with point dipole, quadrupole, and octupole moments, and reproduces radial distribution functions of pure liquid water using the moments of SPC/E [Ichiye and Tan, J. Chem. Phys. 124, 134504 (2006)]. The forces and torques of SSDQO water for the dipole-quadrupole, quadrupole-quadrupole, and dipole-octupole interactions are derived here. The simulations are carried out at 298 K in the microcanonical ensemble employing the Ewald method for the long-range dipole-dipole interactions. Here, various dynamical properties associated with translational and rotational motions of SSDQO water using the moments of SPC/E (SSDQO:SPC/E) water are compared with the results from SPC/E and also experiment. The self-diffusion coefficient of SSDQO:SPC/E water is found to be in excellent agreement with both SPC/E and experiment whereas the single particle orientational relaxation time for dipole vector is better than SPC/E water but it is somewhat smaller than experiment. The dielectric constant of SSDQO:SPC/E is essentially identical to SPC/E, and both are slightly lower than experiment. Also, molecular dynamics simulations of the SSDQO water model are found to be about twice as fast as three-site models such as SPC/E.     

Structural properties and thermodynamics of water clusters: a Wang-Landau study

The temperature dependence of structural properties and thermodynamic behavior of water clusters has been studied using Wang-Landau sampling. Four potential models, simple point charge/extended (SPC/E), transferable intermolecular potential 3 point (TIP3P), transferable intermolecular potential 4 point (TIP4P), and Gaussian charge polarizable (GCP), are compared for ground states and properties at finite temperatures. Although the hydrogen bond energy and the distance of the nearest-neighbor oxygen pair are significantly different for TIP4P and GCP models, they approach to similar ground state structures and melting transition temperatures in cluster sizes we considered. Comparing with TIP3P, SPC/E model provides properties closer to that of TIP4P and GCP.     

Structure, thermodynamics, and liquid-vapor equilibrium of ethanol from molecular-dynamics simulations using nonadditive interactions

We present a molecular-dynamics simulation study of the bulk and liquid-vapor interfacial properties of ethanol using a polarizable force field based on the fluctuating charge (FQ) formalism, as well as the nonpolarizable CHARMM22 force field. Both models are competitive with respect to the prediction of ambient liquid properties such as liquid density, enthalpy of vaporization, dielectric constant, and self-diffusion constants. The polarizable model predicts an average condensed-phase dipole moment of 2.2 D associated with an induced liquid-phase dipole moment of 0.6 D; though qualitatively in agreement with earlier nonadditive models as well as recent Car-Parinello calculations, the current FQ model underestimates the condensed-phase dipole moment. In terms of liquid structure, both models are in agreement with recent neutron-diffraction results of liquid ethanol structure, although the polarizable model predicts the hydroxyl-hydrogen-hydroxyl-hydrogen structure factor in closer agreement with the experimental data. In terms of interfacial properties, both models predict ambient surface tension to within 4% of the experimental value of 22.8 dyncm, while overestimating the surface excess entropy by almost a factor of 2. Both models display the characteristic preferential orientation of interfacial molecules. The polarizable model allows for a monotonic variation of the average molecular dipole moment from the bulk value to that of the vapor phase. Consequently, there is a dramatic difference in the surface potential predicted by the polarizable and nonpolarizable models. The polarizable model estimates a surface potential of -209+/-3 mV, while the nonpolarizable model yields a value of -944+/-10 mV. Finally, based on the vapor-liquid equilibrium simulation data from several temperatures, we estimate the critical properties of both models. As observed with other FQ models for associating fluids (such as water and methanol), and counter to what one would anticipate by modeling more physically the electrostatic response to local environment, the current FQ model underestimates the critical temperature and overestimates the critical density of ethanol; moreover, the FQ model is, in this respect, equivalent to the underlying fixed-charge model. These results further suggest the need to revisit polarizable models in terms of quantitative vapor-liquid equilibrium prediction.     

Hydrophobic solvation of Gay-Berne particles in modified water models

The solvation of large hydrophobic solutes, modeled as repulsive and attractive Gay-Berne oblate ellipsoids, is characterized in several modified water liquids using the SPC/E model as the reference water fluid. We find that small amounts of attraction between the Gay-Berne particle and any model fluid result in wetting of the hydrophobic surface. However, significant differences are found among the modified and SPC/E water models and the critical distances in which they dewet the hydrophobic surfaces of pairs of repulsive Gay-Berne particles. We find that the dewetting trends for repulsive Gay-Berne particles in the various model liquids correlate directly with their surface tensions, the widths of the interfaces they form, and the openness of their network structure. The largest critical separations are found in liquids with the smallest surface tensions and the broadest interfaces as measured by the Egelstaff-Widom length.