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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 361 records · Page 20
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DOE OSTI2024

Modeling Europium (II/III) ion solvation in the LiCl-KCl eutectic mixture with polarizable force fields

Here, the solvation processes of Europium (II/III) ions within the molten salt eutectic mixture, 3LiCl-2KCl, are investigated over temperatures ranging from 673 K to 1173 K. New polarizable ion force fields are proposed to model Europium ions in a molten salt eutectic mixture with a goal of accurately capturing the underlying physics in the solutions. In contrast to rigid-ion models, the polarizable Drude model with an adjusted WBK (Wang-Buckingham) force field significantly improves predictions for diffusion coefficients, the average diffusion activation energy, and changes in excess ion chemical potential and partial molar entropy, producing good agreement with experimental measurements.

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DOE OSTI2022

Solvated Nuclear–Electronic Orbital Structure and Dynamics

Nonadiabatic dynamical processes such as proton-coupled electron transfer and excited state intramolecular proton transfer have been the subject of much research. One of the promising theoretical methods to describe these processes is the nuclear–electronic orbital (NEO) approach. This approach inherently accounts for nuclear quantum effects within quantum chemistry calculations, and it has recently been extended to directly simulate nonadiabatic processes with the development of real-time NEO methods. These processes can also be significantly dependent on the surrounding chemical environment, however, and capturing the effects of the environment is often necessary for analyzing experimentally relevant systems. This work couples the NEO density functional theory and real-time time-dependent density functional theory approaches with solvation through the polarizable continuum model. Here, the effects of this coupling are investigated for ground state properties, solvent-dependent vibrational frequencies, and direct excited state intramolecular proton transfer dynamics.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

Mixed-Polarity Copolymers Based on Ethylene Oxide and Cyclic Carbonate: Insights into Li-Ion Solvation and Conductivity

Here, this study investigates the relationship between polarity and ionic conductivity in random and block copolymer electrolytes comprising highly flexible oligo(ethylene oxide) methyl ether methacrylate (OEM) and highly polar but glassy glycerol carbonate methacrylate (GCMA) monomers, blended with either lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) or lithium triflate. Interestingly, the high polarity of GCMA did not significantly enhance ionic dissociation, and the random copolymers (POEM-r-PGCMA) showed similar or lower ionic conductivities than the POEM homopolymer. Further analysis revealed that Li + only interacts with OEM and its counterion, not with GCMA. The less-intermixed and weakly phase-separated block copolymer (POEM-b-PGCMA) exhibited even lower conductivities than the random copolymer. Our results suggest that Li + solvation occurs only in the POEM-rich phase and that the larger PGCMA regions, depleted of Li + , disrupt long-range ion transport. These findings provide valuable insights into the design of polymer electrolytes and how segmental mobility and functional groups with contrasting polarities affect ion transport.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

The Interplay of Solvation and Polarization Effects on Ion Pairing in Nanoconfined Electrolytes

The nature of ion–ion interactions in electrolytes confined to nanoscale pores has important implications for energy storage and separation technologies. However, the physical effects dictating the structure of nanoconfined electrolytes remain debated. Here we employ machine-learning-based molecular dynamics simulations to investigate ion–ion interactions with density functional theory level accuracy in a prototypical confined electrolyte, aqueous NaCl within graphene slit pores. We find that the free energy of ion pairing in highly confined electrolytes deviates substantially from that in bulk solutions, observing a decrease in contact ion pairing but an increase in solvent-separated ion pairing. These changes arise from an interplay of ion solvation effects and graphene’s electronic structure. Notably, the behavior observed from our first-principles-level simulations is not reproduced even qualitatively with the classical force fields conventionally used to model these systems. The insight provided in this work opens new avenues for predicting and controlling the structure of nanoconfined electrolytes.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Unexpected electrochemical behavior of an anolyte redoxmer in flow battery electrolytes: solvating cations help to fight against the thermodynamic–kinetic dilemma

Redoxmers are redox-active molecules that can store energy in electrolytes for redox flow batteries (RFBs), and their electrochemical properties are significantly affected by the choice of supporting electrolytes. Herein, we use 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (BzNSN) as a model system to scrutinize the supporting electrolyte impact. By systemically varying the components of supporting salts, BzNSN not only shows substantial redox potential shifts but also exhibits varying electrochemical stabilities. Specifically, changing the size of cations can effectively alter the coordination between the supporting salt and BzNSN species. From Li + , Na + , K + , to NEt 4 + , the redox potential of BzNSN shifts negatively, from -1.63 V to -1.82 V vs. Ag/Ag + . Molecular dynamics and density functional theory simulations revealed that smaller cations, like Li + , are closer to the charged BzNSN when coordinated, implying stronger coordination, while larger cations, like K + and NEt 4 + , are farther away. Interestingly, the large cation electrolytes also lead to much improved electrochemical stability, evidenced by the extraordinarily enhanced kinetic lifetime from electron paramagnetic resonance measurement. This study demonstrates the first example of tuning an anolyte redoxmer toward a concurrent improvement of lowered redox potentials AND enhanced calendar lives via solvation means, which is usually constrained by the thermodynamic–kinetic relation.

2,1,3-benzothiadiazole↗
DOE OSTI2025

Impacts of molecular architecture on the radiation-induced degradation and reaction kinetics of hydrophobic diglycolamides with the solvated electron and the dodecane radical cation

Given their proposed use as trivalent actinide–lanthanide separation ligands, the role of molecular architecture on the radiation robustness of diglycolamide (DGA) molecules has been investigated. This study examined three prototypical molecules with differences in their aliphatic chain architecture: N,N,N′,N′-tetra(n-octyl)diglycolamide (TODGA), N,N,N′,N′-tetra(2-ethylhexyl)diglycolamide (T2EHDGA), and N,N′-dimethyl-N,N′-dioctyldiglycolamide (DMDODGA). Rate coefficients and activation parameters are reported for the reactivity of each DGA with the solvated electron (e solv − ) and the corresponding dodecane radical cation (RH˙ + ) over the temperature range of 10.0 to 44.1 °C. These measurements indicate that DMDODGA is the most chemically reactive with both transient radicals, which may be attributed to this molecule's more accessible backbone. Complementary gamma dose accumulation studies (≤ 600 kGy) under envisioned process conditions—50 mM DGA in n-dodecane solvent—afforded dose constants for the loss of DGA of d = (3.41 ± 0.07) × 10 −3 , (4.19 ± 0.09) × 10 −3 , and (4.65 ± 0.09) × 10 −3 kGy −1 for T2EHDGA, DMDODGA, and TODGA, respectively. These dose constants indicate that varying DGA architecture affords subtle differences in chemical reactivity, leading to varying rates of radiolytic degradation under envisioned actinide–lanthanide separation conditions. However, more ambitious DGA frameworks, such as modifying the backbone, branching of the aliphatic chains, and/or changing the size of the chain may be required for larger gains in radiolytic longevity while optimizing actinide–lanthanide selectivity.

Arrhenius parameters↗
DOE OSTI2011

Dynamics of electron solvation in I{sup -}(CH{sub 3}OH){sub n} clusters (4 {<=}n{<=} 11)

The dynamics of electron solvation following excitation of the charge-transfer-to-solvent precursor state in iodide-doped methanol clusters, I{sup -}(CH{sub 3}OH){sub n=4-11}, are studied with time-resolved photoelectron imaging. This excitation produces a I{sup ...}(CH{sub 3}OH){sub n}{sup -} cluster that is unstable with respect to electron autodetachment and whose autodetachment lifetime increases monotonically from {approx}800 fs to 85 ps as n increases from 4 to 11. The vertical detachment energy (VDE) and width of the excited state feature in the photoelectron spectrum show complex time dependence during the lifetime of this state. The VDE decreases over the first 100-400 fs, then rises exponentially to a maximum with a {approx}1 ps time constant, and finally decreases by as much as 180 meV with timescales of 3-20 ps. The early dynamics are associated with electron transfer from the iodide to the methanol cluster, while the longer-time changes in VDE are attributed to solvent reordering, possibly in conjunction with ejection of neutral iodine from the cluster. Changes in the observed width of the spectrum largely follow those of the VDEs; the dynamics of both are attributed to the major rearrangement of the solvent cluster during relaxation. The relaxation dynamics are interpreted as a reorientation of at least one methanol molecule and the disruption and formation of the solvent network in order to accommodate the excess charge.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2012

Microscopic probing of the size dependence in hydrophobic solvation

We report small angle x-ray scattering data demonstrating the direct experimental microscopic observation of the small-to-large crossover behavior of hydrophobic effects in hydrophobic solvation. By increasing the side chain length of amphiphilic tetraalkyl-ammonium (C{sub n}H{sub 2n+1}){sub 4}N{sup +} (R{sub 4}N{sup +}) cations in aqueous solution we observe diffraction peaks indicating association between cations at a solute size between 4.4 and 5 A, which show temperature dependence dominated by hydrophobic attraction. Using O K-edge x-ray absorption we show that small solutes affect hydrogen bonding in water similar to a temperature decrease, while large solutes affect water similar to a temperature increase. Molecular dynamics simulations support, and provide further insight into, the origin of the experimental observations.

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DOE OSTI2013

Solvation at nanoscale: Alkali-halides in water clusters

The solvation of alkali-halides in water clusters at nanoscale is studied by photoelectron spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation. The Na 2p, K 3p, Cl 2p, Br 3d, and I 4d core level binding energies have been measured for salt-containing water clusters. The results have been compared to those of alkali halide clusters and the dilute aqueous salt solutions. It is found that the alkali halides dissolve in small water clusters as ions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2013

Membrane formation by preferential solvation of ions in mixture of water, 3-methylpyridine, and sodium tetraphenylborate

The structure and dynamics of a ternary system composed of deuterium oxide (D{sub 2}O), 3-methylpyridine (3MP), and sodium tetraphenylborate (NaBPh{sub 4}) are investigated by means of small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and neutron spin echo (NSE) techniques. In the SANS experiments, a structural phase transition is confirmed between a disordered-phase and an ordered-lamellar-phase upon variation of the composition and/or temperature of the mixture. The characteristic lengths of the structures is on the sub-micrometer scale. A dispersion relation of the structure is measured through NSE experiments, which shows that the relaxation rate follows a cubic relation with momentum transfer. This implies that the dynamics of the system are determined predominantly by membrane fluctuations. The present results indicate that 3MP-rich domains are microscopically separated from bulk water in the presence of NaBPh{sub 4}, and that the layers behave as membranes. These results are interpreted that preferential solvation of salt in each solvent induces a microphase separation between the solvents, and the periodic structure of 3MP-rich domains is stabilized by the long-range electrostatic interaction arising from Na{sup +} ions in D{sub 2}O-rich domains.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

Solvation of molecules in superfluid helium enhances the “interaction induced localization” effect

Atomic nuclei become delocalized at low temperatures as a result of quantum effects, whereas they are point-like in the high temperature (classical) limit. For non-interacting nuclei, the delocalization upon lowering the temperature is quantitatively described in terms of the thermal de Broglie wavelength of free particles. Clearly, light non-interacting nuclei – the proton being a prominent one – are much more delocalized at low temperatures compared to heavy nuclei, such as non-interacting oxygen having water in mind. However, strong interactions due to chemical bonding in conjunction with ultra-low temperatures characteristic to superfluid helium nanodroplets change this common picture substantially for nuclei in molecules or clusters. It turns out that protons shared in hydrogen bonds undergo an extreme “interaction induced localization” at temperatures on the order of 1 K, which compresses the protonic spatial distributions to the size of the much heavier donor or acceptor atoms, such as O or Cl nuclei, corresponding to about 0.1% of the volume occupied by a non-interacting proton at the same temperature. Moreover, applying our recently developed hybrid ab initio path integral molecular dynamics/bosonic path integral Monte Carlo quantum simulation technique to a HCl/water cluster, HCl(H{sub 2}O){sub 4}, we find that helium solvation has a significant additional localizing effect of up to about 30% in volume. In particular, the solvent-induced excess localization is the stronger the lesser the given nucleus is already localized in the gas phase reference situation.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

The cavity electromagnetic field within the polarizable continuum model of solvation

Cavity field effects can be defined as the consequences of the solvent polarization induced by the probing electromagnetic field upon spectroscopies of molecules in solution, and enter in the definitions of solute response properties. The polarizable continuum model of solvation (PCM) has been extended in the past years to address the cavity-field issue through the definition of an effective dipole moment that couples to the external electromagnetic field. We present here a rigorous derivation of such cavity-field treatment within the PCM starting from the general radiation-matter Hamiltonian within inhomogeneous dielectrics and recasting the interaction term to a dipolar form within the long wavelength approximation. To this aim we generalize the Göppert-Mayer and Power-Zienau-Woolley gauge transformations, usually applied in vacuo, to the case of a cavity vector potential. Our derivation also allows extending the cavity-field correction in the long-wavelength limit to the velocity gauge through the definition of an effective linear momentum operator. Furthermore, this work sets the basis for the general PCM treatment of the electromagnetic cavity field, capable to describe the radiation-matter interaction in dielectric media beyond the long-wavelength limit, providing also a tool to investigate spectroscopic properties of more complex systems such as molecules close to large nanoparticles.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

Quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical/continuum style solvation model: Second order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory

A combined quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical/continuum (QM/MM/C) style second order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2) method that incorporates induced dipole polarizable force field and induced surface charge continuum solvation model is established. The Z-vector method is modified to include induced dipoles and induced surface charges to determine the MP2 response density matrix, which can be used to evaluate MP2 properties. In particular, analytic nuclear gradient is derived and implemented for this method. Using the Assisted Model Building with Energy Refinement induced dipole polarizable protein force field, the QM/MM/C style MP2 method is used to study the hydrogen bonding distances and strengths of the photoactive yellow protein chromopore in the wild type and the Glu46Gln mutant.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

Structure, solvation, and dynamics of Mg{sup 2+}, Ca{sup 2+}, Sr{sup 2+}, and Ba{sup 2+} complexes with 3-hydroxyflavone and perchlorate anion in acetonitrile medium: A molecular dynamics simulation study

Molecular dynamics simulations of complexes of Mg{sup 2+}, Ca{sup 2+}, Sr{sup 2+}, and Ba{sup 2+} with 3-hydroxyflavone (flavonol, 3HF) and ClO {sub 4}{sup −} in acetonitrile were performed. The united atoms force field model was proposed for the 3HF molecule using the results of DFT quantum chemical calculations. 3HF was interpreted as a rigid molecule with two internal degrees of freedom, i.e., rotation of the phenyl ring and of the OH group with respect to the chromone moiety. The interatomic radial distribution functions showed that interaction of the cations with flavonol occurs via the carbonyl group of 3HF and it is accompanied with substitution of one of the acetonitrile molecules in the cations’ first solvation shells. Formation of the cation–3HF complexes does not have significant impact on the rotation of the phenyl ring with respect to the chromone moiety. However, the orientation of the flavonol's OH-group is more sensitive to the interaction with doubly charged cations. When complex with Mg{sup 2+} is formed, the OH-group turns out of the plane of the chromone moiety that leads to rupture of intramolecular H-bond in the ligand molecule. Complexation of Ca{sup 2+}, Sr{sup 2+}, and BaClO {sub 4}{sup +} with 3HF produces two structures with different OH-positions, as in the free flavonol with the intramolecular H-bond and as in the complex with Mg{sup 2+} with disrupted H-bonding. It was shown that additional stabilization of the [MgClO{sub 4}(3HF)]{sup +} and [BaClO{sub 4}(3HF)]{sup +} complexes is determined by strong affinity of perchlorate anion to interact with flavonol via intracomplex hydrogen bond between an oxygen atom of the anion and the hydrogen atom of the 3-hydroxyl group. Noticeable difference in the values of the self-diffusion coefficients for Kt{sup 2+} from one side and ClO {sub 4}{sup −}, 3HF, and AN in the cations’ coordination shell from another side implies quite weak interaction between cation, anion, and ligands in the investigated complexes.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

Theoretical oxidation state analysis of Ru-(bpy){sub 3}: Influence of water solvation and Hubbard correction in first-principles calculations

Oxidation state is a powerful concept that is widely used in chemistry and materials physics, although the concept itself is arguably ill-defined quantum mechanically. In this work, we present impartial comparison of four, well-recognized theoretical approaches based on Lowdin atomic orbital projection, Bader decomposition, maximally localized Wannier function, and occupation matrix diagonalization, for assessing how well transition metal oxidation states can be characterized. Here, we study a representative molecular complex, tris(bipyridine)ruthenium. We also consider the influence of water solvation through first-principles molecular dynamics as well as the improved electronic structure description for strongly correlated d-electrons by including Hubbard correction in density functional theory calculations.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

Ionic strength independence of charge distributions in solvation of biomolecules

Electrostatic forces enormously impact the structure, interactions, and function of biomolecules. We perform all-atom molecular dynamics simulations for 5 proteins and 5 RNAs to determine the dependence on ionic strength of the ion and water charge distributions surrounding the biomolecules, as well as the contributions of ions to the electrostatic free energy of interaction between the biomolecule and the surrounding salt solution (for a total of 40 different biomolecule/solvent combinations). Although water provides the dominant contribution to the charge density distribution and to the electrostatic potential even in 1M NaCl solutions, the contributions of water molecules and of ions to the total electrostatic interaction free energy with the solvated biomolecule are comparable. The electrostatic biomolecule/solvent interaction energies and the total charge distribution exhibit a remarkable insensitivity to salt concentrations over a huge range of salt concentrations (20 mM to 1M NaCl). The electrostatic potentials near the biomolecule's surface obtained from the MD simulations differ markedly, as expected, from the potentials predicted by continuum dielectric models, even though the total electrostatic interaction free energies are within 11% of each other.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

Quantum chemical approach for condensed-phase thermochemistry: Proposal of a harmonic solvation model

We propose a novel quantum chemical method, called the harmonic solvation model (HSM), for calculating thermochemical parameters in the condensed phase, particularly in the liquid phase. The HSM represents translational and rotational motions of a solute as vibrations interacting with a cavity wall of solvent molecules. As examples, the HSM and the ideal-gas model (IGM) were used for the standard formation reaction of liquid water, combustion reactions of liquid formic acid, methanol, and ethanol, vapor–liquid equilibration of water and ethanol, and dissolution of gaseous CO{sub 2} in water. The numerical results confirmed the reliability and applicability of the HSM. In particular, the temperature dependence of the Gibbs energy of liquid molecules was accurately reproduced by the HSM; for example, the boiling point of water was reasonably determined using the HSM, whereas the conventional IGM treatment failed to obtain a crossing of the two Gibbs energy curves for gaseous and liquid water.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Self-consistent continuum solvation for optical absorption of complex molecular systems in solution

We introduce a new method to compute the optical absorption spectra of complex molecular systems in solution, based on the Liouville approach to time-dependent density-functional perturbation theory and the revised self-consistent continuum solvation model. The former allows one to obtain the absorption spectrum over a whole wide frequency range, using a recently proposed Lanczos-based technique, or selected excitation energies, using the Casida equation, without having to ever compute any unoccupied molecular orbitals. The latter is conceptually similar to the polarizable continuum model and offers the further advantages of allowing an easy computation of atomic forces via the Hellmann-Feynman theorem and a ready implementation in periodic-boundary conditions. The new method has been implemented using pseudopotentials and plane-wave basis sets, benchmarked against polarizable continuum model calculations on 4-aminophthalimide, alizarin, and cyanin and made available through the QUANTUM ESPRESSO distribution of open-source codes.

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