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Engineering topics

Matyushov, Dmitry V.

Publications and source records attributed to Matyushov, Dmitry V..

Theories of homogeneous and electrochemical electron transfer in complex media and interfaces (Final Technical Report)

This project makes the next step in establishing practical theories of charge transfer in complex media. The development of formal models is supported by extensive atomistic simulations, quantum calculations of force-field parameters, and direct measurements of charge-transfer spectra. All theory development is supported by experiment, extensive numerical simulations, and through external collaborations.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Nonlinear dielectric relaxation of polar liquids

Molecular dynamics of two water models, SPC/E and TIP3P, at a number of temperatures are used to test the Kivelson-Madden equation connecting single-particle and collective dielectric relaxation times through the Kirkwood factor. The relation is confirmed by simulations and used to estimate the nonlinear effect of the electric field on the dielectric relaxation time. We show that the main effect of the field comes through slowing down of the single-particle rotational dynamics and the relative contribution of the field-induced alteration of the Kirkwood factor is insignificant for water. Theories of nonlinear dielectric relaxation need to mostly account for the effect of the field on rotations of a single dipole in a polar liquid.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Reorganization Energy of Electron Transfer in Ionic Liquids

We report bandshape analysis of charge-transfer optical bands in room-temperature ionic liquids (ILs) is performed to extract reorganization energy of electron transfer. Remarkably, the reorganization energies in ILs are close to those in cyclohexane. This result runs against common wisdom in the field since conducting ILs, characterized by an infinite static dielectric constant, and nonpolar cyclohexane fall to the opposite ends of the polarity scale based on their dielectric constants. Theoretical calculations employing structure factors of ILs from molecular dynamics simulations support low values of the reorganization energy. Standard dielectric arguments do not apply to solvation in ILs and nonergodic reorganization energies are required for a quantitative analysis.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Electron-Induced Proton Transfer

The pathway of activationless proton transfer induced by an electron-transfer reaction is studied theoretically. Long-range electron transfer produces highly nonequilibrium medium polarization that can drive proton transfer through an activationless transition during the process of thermalization, dynamically altering the screening of the electron–proton Coulomb interaction by the medium. The cross electron–proton reorganization energy is the main energy parameter of the theory, which exceeds in magnitude the proton-transfer reorganization energy roughly by the ratio of the electron-transfer to proton-transfer distance. This parameter, which can be either positive or negative, is related to the difference in pK a values in two electron-transfer states. The relaxation time of the medium is on the (sub)picosecond time scale, which establishes the characteristic time for activationless proton transfer. Microscopic calculations predict substantial retardation of the collective relaxation dynamics compared to the continuum estimates due to the phenomenology analogous to de Gennes narrowing. As a result, nonequilibrium medium configuration promoting proton transfer can be induced by either thermal or photoinduced charge transfer.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Electron transfer in nonpolar media

The Marcus theory of electron transfer views fluctuating orientations of permanent dipoles as the nuclear mode bringing the donor and acceptor into the tunneling resonance. Electronic polarization of the solvent is excluded as the fast mode adiabatically following the electronic density. This view, valid for solids, does not apply to molecular liquids where molecular translations (density fluctuations) modulate the induction interaction of the donor-acceptor complex with the solvent. This mechanism of promoting radiation-less electronic transitions is considered here in the framework of the perturbation liquid-state theory. The reorganization energy of electron transfer in nonpolar solvents is nonzero and reaches the values of 0.1–0.3 eV for typical molecular sizes and solvents used in applications. The reorganization energy scales quadratically with the molecular polarizability of the solvent and decays as the inverse fifth power with the size of the donor and acceptor. The combination of the entropic character of the density fluctuations, driven by re-packing of molecular cores, with the short range of induction solute–solvent interactions leads to the violation of the fluctuation–dissipation theorem for the variance of the donor-acceptor energy gap. An explicit, approximately hyperbolic, dependence of the reorganization energy on temperature is predicted. It leads to a non-Arrhenius kinetic law for the rate constant of electron transfer in nonpolar liquid solvents.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗