How does the electronic continuum model perform in the prediction of the surface tension of salt solutions?

Abstract

The electronic continuum (EC) model uses a scaling of the charges of the ions in order to model implicitly the polarization into nonpolarizable models. This scaling procedure is applied here to two standard nonpolarizable force fields to investigate the salt concentration dependence of the surface tension and density of NaCl aqueous solutions. The composition of the interface and the orientation of the water molecules at the water surface are reported for different combinations of force fields.