Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Study of Aqueous Solutions of Magnesium and Calcium Nitrates: Hydration Shell Structure, Dynamics and Vibrational Echo Spectroscopy

Abstract

Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations are performed to study the hydration shell structure, dynamics, and vibrational echo spectroscopy of aqueous Mg(NO3)2 and Ca(NO3)2 solutions. The hydration shell structure is probed through calculations of various ion–ion and ion–water radial and spatial distribution functions. On the dynamical side, calculations have been made for the hydrogen bond dynamics of hydration shells and also residence dynamics and lifetimes of water in different solvation environments. Subsequently, we looked at the dynamics of frequency fluctuations of OD modes of heavy water in different hydration environments. Specifically, the temporal decay of spectral observables of two-dimensional infrared (2DIR) spectroscopy, three pulse echo peak shift (3PEPS) measurements and also of time correlations of frequency fluctuations are calculated to investigate the dynamics of vibrational spectral diffusion of water in different hydration environments in these solutions. The OD stretch frequencies of water molecules in the vicinity of both divalent cations are found to be red-shifted and also fluctuating at a slower rate than other water molecules present in the solutions. The Mg2+ ions are found to be strongly hydrated which can be linked to their lower tendency to form contact ion-pairs and essentially no water exchange between the cationic hydration shells and bulk during the time scale of the current simulations. The stronger hydration of Mg2+ ions make their hydration shells structurally and dynamically more rigid and make the dynamics of hydrogen bonds and vibrational spectral diffusion, as revealed through spectral observables of 2DIR and 3PEPS slower than that for the Ca2+ ions. The structural and spectral dynamics of water molecules outside the cationic solvation shells in the Mg(NO3)2 solution are also found to be relatively slower than that of the Ca(NO3)2 solution and pure water which show the effects of stronger electric fields of Mg2+ ions extending beyond their first hydration shells. Also, water molecules in the hydration shells of the NO3– ions are found to relax at a slower rate in the Mg(NO3)2 solution which manifests the effect countercations have on anionic hydration shells for divalent metal nitrate solutions.