Silver nitrate in aqueous solution and as molten salt: A molecular dynamics simulation and NMR relaxation study

Abstract

Using molecular dynamics simulations, the motion and intermolecular interactions of the ions of silver nitrate are studied in aqueous solution and compared to the results obtained from simulations of molten AgNO3. The particularly interesting and experimentally frequently studied modes of reorientational motion (in-plane and end-over-end) of the planar nitrate ion have been determined from the simulation results. In accordance with earlier experimental results, the correlation times for the end-over-end rotation in aqueous solution are longer than those for the in-plane rotation, while the opposite is found to hold in the melt. In addition, the rotational motion of the nitrate ion in aqueous solution is experimentally studied using 14N relaxation measurements. Good agreement is found between the reorientational correlation times obtained from MD simulations and from NMR relaxation measurements.