Fragile to strong crossover at the Widom line in supercooled aqueous solutions of NaCl

Abstract

We study by molecular dynamics simulations the dynamical properties of an aqueous solution of NaCl at a concentration of 0.67 mol/kg upon supercooling. In a previous study of the same ionic solution, we have located the liquid-liquid critical point (LLCP) and determined the Widom line connected to the liquid-liquid transition. We present here the results obtained from the study of the self-intermediate scattering function in a large range of temperatures and densities approaching the LLCP. The structural relaxation is in agreement with the mode coupling theory (MCT) in the region of mild supercooling. In the deeper supercooled region the α-relaxation time as function of temperature deviates from the MCT power law prediction showing a crossover from a fragile to a strong behavior. This crossover is found upon crossing the Widom line. The same trend was found in bulk water upon supercooling and it appears almost unchanged by the interaction with ions apart from a shift in the thermodynamic plane toward lower pressures and higher temperatures. These results show that the phenomenology of supercooled water transfers from bulk to solution where the study of the supercooled region is experimentally less difficult.