A mode-coupling theory analysis of the observed diffusion anomaly in aqueous polyatomic ions

Abstract

In contrast to simple monatomic alkali and halide ions, complex polyatomic ions such as nitrate, acetate, nitrite, and chlorate have not been studied in any great detail. Experiments have shown that diffusion of polyatomic ions exhibits many remarkable anomalies; notable among them is the fact that polyatomic ions with similar size show large difference in their diffusivity values. This fact has drawn relatively little interest in scientific discussions. We show here that a mode-coupling theory can provide a physically meaningful interpretation of the anomalous diffusivity of polyatomic ions in water, by including the contribution of rotational jumps on translational friction. The two systems discussed here, namely, aqueous nitrate ion and aqueous acetate ion, although have similar ionic radii, exhibit largely different diffusivity values due to the differences in the rate of their rotational jump motions. We have further verified the mode-coupling theory formalism by comparing it with experimental and simulation results that agree well with the theoretical prediction.