Annika Lenz

The inhomogeneous structure of water at ambient conditions

Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) is used to demonstrate the presence of density fluctuations in ambient water on a physical length-scale of ≈1 nm; this is retained with decreasing temperature while the magnitude is enhanced. In contrast, the magnitude of fluctuations in a normal liquid, such as CCl4, exhibits no enhancement with decreasing temperature, as is also the case for water from molecular dynamics simulations under ambient conditions. Based on X-ray emission spectroscopy and X-ray Raman scattering data we propose that the density difference contrast in SAXS is due to fluctuations between tetrahedral-like and hydrogen-bond distorted structures related to, respectively, low and high density water. We combine our experimental observations to propose a model of water as a temperature-dependent, fluctuating equilibrium between the two types of local structures driven by incommensurate requirements for minimizing enthalpy (strong near-tetrahedral hydrogen-bonds) and maximizing entropy (nondirectional H-bonds and disorder). The present results provide experimental evidence that the extreme differences anticipated in the hydrogen-bonding environment in the deeply supercooled regime surprisingly remain in bulk water even at conditions ranging from ambient up to close to the boiling point.

A theoretical study of water clusters: the relation between hydrogen-bond topology and interaction energy from quantum-chemical computations for clusters with up to 22 molecules

Quantum-chemical calculations of a variety of water clusters with eight, ten and twelve molecules were performed, as well as for selected clusters with up to 22 water molecules. Geometry optimizations were carried out at the B3LYP/cc-pVDZ level and single-point energies were calculated at the B3LYP/aug-cc-pVDZ level for selected clusters. The electronic energies were studied with respect to the geometry of the oxygen arrangement and six different characteristics of the hydrogen-bond arrangement in the cluster. Especially the effect of the placement of the non-hydrogen bonding hydrogens on the interaction energy was studied. Models for the interaction energy with respect to different characteristics of the hydrogen-bond arrangement were derived through least-square fits. The results from the study of the clusters with eight, ten and twelve molecules are used to predict possible low-energy structures for various shapes of clusters with up to 22 molecules.

A theoretical study of water equilibria: The cluster distribution versus temperature and pressure for (H2O)n, n=1–60, and ice

The size distribution of water clusters at equilibrium is studied using quantum-chemical calculations in combination with statistical thermodynamics. The necessary energetic data is obtained by quantum-chemical B3LYP computations and through extrapolations from the B3LYP results for the larger clusters. Clusters with up to 60 molecules are included in the equilibrium computations. Populations of different cluster sizes are calculated using both an ideal gas model with noninteracting clusters and a model where a correction for the interaction energy is included analogous to the van der Waals law. In standard vapor the majority of the water molecules are monomers. For the ideal gas model at 1 atm large clusters [56-mer (0-120 K) and 28-mer (100-260 K)] dominate at low temperatures and separate to smaller clusters [21-22-mer (170-280 K) and 4-6-mer (270-320 K) and to monomers (300-350 K)] when the temperature is increased. At lower pressure the transition from clusters to monomers lies at lower temperatures and fewer cluster sizes are formed. The computed size distribution exhibits enhanced peaks for the clusters consisting of 21 and 28 water molecules; these sizes are for protonated water clusters often referred to as magic numbers. If cluster-cluster interactions are included in the model the transition from clusters to monomers is sharper (i.e., occurs over a smaller temperature interval) than when the ideal-gas model is used. Clusters with 20-22 molecules dominate in the liquid region. When a large icelike cluster is included it will dominate for temperatures up to 325 K for the noninteracting clusters model. Thermodynamic properties (C(p), DeltaH) were calculated with in general good agreement with experimental values for the solid and gas phase. A formula for the number of H-bond topologies in a given cluster structure is derived. For the 20-mer it is shown that the number of topologies contributes to making the population of dodecahedron-shaped cluster larger than that of a lower-energy fused prism cluster at high temperatures.

Reply to Soper et al.: Fluctuations in water around a bimodal distribution of local hydrogen-bonded structural motifs

Soper et al. (1) propose that the rise in the structure factor S(Q) at low Q in the small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) data reported in ref. 2 is caused by stochastic number fluctuations present in all liquids and that these fluctuations are not qualitatively different for water. Water, however, exhibits enhanced number density fluctuations both at higher and lower temperatures. Clearly, the driving force cannot be the same in both temperature regimes. In ref. 2, we suggest that the balance between minimizing enthalpy (tetrahedral regions) and entropy (disordered regions) provides the driving force dominating at low temperatures and that cooperatively enhanced H bonds associated with lower-density, tetrahedral regions may play an important role.

Structures of the I-, II- and H-Methane Clathrates and the Ice−Methane Clathrate Phase Transition from Quantum-Chemical Modeling with Force-Field Thermal Corrections

Methane hydrates with the three clathrate structures I, II, and H are studied by quantum-chemical methods. Hybrid density-functional theory B3LYP computations using periodic boundary conditions are combined with force-field methods for the thermal energy effects to calculate energetic, thermodynamic, and structural properties. The pressure dependencies for the crystal structures, lattice energies, and guest molecule interactions are derived. The quantum-chemical geometry optimizations predict too small cell volumes as compared to experimental data, but by including zero-point energy and thermal energy effects, we find the cell volumes increase and the correct densities are obtained. The phase transition from MH-I to ice Ih and methane was computed and found to occur at about 9.7 MPa.

Quantum-chemical investigations of phenol and larger aromatic molecules at the TiO2 anatase (101) surface

Adsorption of aromatic molecules at the (101) surface of titanium dioxide anatase is studied by quantum-chemical B3LYP computations, where both cluster and periodic calculations were performed and ...