Theoretical investigation of the coexistence of α and β-nitric acid trihydrates (NAT) molecular conformations

Abstract

In this letter we document the possibility of the existence of a second molecular configuration for nitric acid trihydrates. Density functional theory (DFT) methods have been used for studying the nitric acid trihydrates α and β-NAT conformations, their spectroscopic and thermodynamics properties and dipole moments have been calculated. This study describes the gas–solid phase transition of the NAT and provides two possible pathways for the molecular structure transformation between α and β-NAT.