Slow orientational dynamics of water molecules at a micellar surface

Abstract

The dynamics of water molecules near an aqueous micellar interface is studied in an atomistic molecular dynamics simulation of cesium pentadecafluorooctanoate (CsPFO) in water. The dipolar orientational time correlation function (tcf) and the translational diffusion of the water molecules are investigated. Results show that both the reorientational and the translational motion of water molecules near the micelle are restricted. In particular, the orientational tcf exhibits a very slow component in the long time which is slower than its bulk value by 2 orders of magnitude. This slow decay seems to be related to the slow decay often observed in experiments. The origin of the slow decay is analyzed.