An ab initio molecular dynamics study of the liquid-vapor interface of an aqueous NaCl solution: inhomogeneous density, polarity, hydrogen bonds, and frequency fluctuations of interfacial molecules.

Abstract

We have presented a first principles simulation study of the structural and dynamical properties of a liquid-vapor interfacial system of a concentrated (5.3 M) aqueous NaCl solution. We have used ab initio molecular dynamics to examine the structural and dynamical properties of the bulk and interfacial regions. The structural aspects of the system that have been considered here include the inhomogeneous density profiles of ions and water molecules, hydrogen bond distributions, orientational profiles, and also vibrational frequency distributions in the bulk and interfacial regions. It is found that the sodium ions are mostly located in the interior, while the chloride anions occupy a significant portion of the interface of the slab. The water dipoles at the interface prefer to orient parallel to the surface. The dynamical aspects of the interfaces are investigated in terms of diffusion, orientational relaxation, hydrogen bond dynamics, and vibrational spectral diffusion. The results of the interfacial dynamics are compared with those of the corresponding bulk region. It is observed that the interfacial molecules exhibit faster diffusion and orientational relaxation with respect to the bulk. However, the interfacial molecules are found to have longer hydrogen bond lifetimes than those of the bulk. We have also investigated the correlations of hydrogen bond relaxation with the vibrational frequency fluctuations of interfacial water molecules.