Implementation of Dynamical Nucleation Theory Effective Fragment Potentials Method for Modeling Aerosol Chemistry

Thumbnail Image
Supplemental Files
Date
2011-10-01
Authors
Windus, Theresa
Gordon, Mark
Major Professor
Advisor
Committee Member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Authors
Person
Windus, Theresa
Department Chair
Person
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Organizational Unit
Organizational Unit
Journal Issue
Is Version Of
Versions
Series
Department
Ames National LaboratoryChemistry
Abstract

In this work, the dynamical nucleation theory (DNT) model using the ab initio based effective fragment potential (EFP) is implemented for evaluating the evaporation rate constant and molecular properties of molecular clusters. Predicting the nucleation rates of aerosol particles in different chemical environments is a key step toward understanding the dynamics of complex aerosol chemistry. Therefore, molecular scale models of nanoclusters are required to understand the macroscopic nucleation process. On the basis of variational transition state theory, DNT provides an efficient approach to predict nucleation kinetics. While most DNT Monte Carlo simulations use analytic potentials to model critical sized clusters, or use ab initio potentials to model very small clusters, the DNTEFP Monte Carlo method presented here can treat up to critical sized clusters using the effective fragment potential (EFP), a rigorous nonempirical intermolecular model potential based on ab initio electronic structure theory calculations, improvable in a systematic manner. The DNTEFP method is applied to study the evaporation rates, energetics, and structure factors of multicomponent clusters containing water and isoprene. The most probable topology of the transition state characterizing the evaporation of one water molecule from a water hexamer at 243 K is predicted to be a conformer that contains six hydrogen bonds, with a topology that corresponds to two water molecules stacked on top of a quadrangular (H2O)4 cluster. For the water hexamer in the presence of isoprene, an increase in the cluster size and a 3-fold increase in the evaporation rate are predicted relative to the reaction in which one water molecule evaporates from a water hexamer cluster.

Comments

Reprinted (adapted) with permission from Journal of Physical Chemistry A 115 (2011): 13987, doi:10.1021/jp207429r. Copyright 2011 American Chemical Society.

Description
Keywords
Citation
DOI
Subject Categories
Copyright
Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 UTC 2011
Collections