Stern, Abraham C | Search NASA

DOE OSTI2012

Electrochemical Surface Potential due to Classical Point Charge Models Drives Anion Adsorption to the Air-Water Interface

Herein, we present research that suggests that the underlying physics that drive simple empirical models of anions (e.g. point charge, no polarization) to the air-water interface, with water described by SPC/E, or related partial charge models is different than when both ions and water are modeled with quantum mechanical based interactions. Specifically, we will show that the driving force of ions to the air-water interface for point charge models results from both cavitation and the negative electrochemical surface potential. We will demonstrate that we can fully characterize the role of the free energy due to the electrochemical surface potential computed from simple empirical models and its role in ionic adsorption within the context of dielectric continuum theory (DCT). Our research suggests that a significant part of the electrochemical surface potential in empirical models appears to be an artifact of the failure of point charge models in the vicinity of a broken symmetry. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy‘s (DOE) Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences and Biosciences. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is operated for the Department of Energy by Battelle.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2011

Does Nitric Acid Dissociate at the Aqueous Solution Surface?

Nitric acid is a prevalent component of atmospheric aerosols, and the extent of nitric acid dissociation at aqueous interfaces is relevant to its role in heterogeneous atmospheric chemistry. Several experimental and theoretical studies have suggested that the extent of dissociation of nitric acid near aqueous interfaces is less than in bulk solution. Here, dissociation of HNO3 at the surface of aqueous nitric acid is quantified using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of the nitrogen local electronic structure. The relative amounts of undissociated HNO3(aq) and dissociated NO3-(aq) are identified by the distinguishable N1s core-level photoelectron spectra of the two species, and we determine the degree of dissociation, αint, in the interface (the first ~3 layers of solution) as a function of HNO3 concentration. Our measurements show that dissociation is decreased by approximately 20% near the solution interface compared with bulk, and furthermore that dissociation occurs even in the top-most solution layer. The experimental results are supported by first-principles MD simulations, which show that hydrogen-bonds between HNO3 and water molecules at the solution surface stabilize the molecular form at low concentration, in analogy to the stabilization of molecular HNO3 that occurs in bulk solution at high concentration. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Chemical Sciences program. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is operated by Battelle for DOE.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗