Dual-Scale Modeling of Benzene Adsorption onto Ni(111) and Au(111) Surfaces in Explicit Water

Curvature and temperature-dependent thermal interface conductance between nanoscale gold and water

Plasmonic gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) can convert laser irradiation into thermal energy for a variety of applications. Although heat transfer through the AuNP-water interface is considered an essential part of the plasmonic heating process, there is a lack of mechanistic understanding of how interface curvature and the heating itself impact interfacial heat transfer. Here, we report atomistic molecular dynamics simulations that investigate heat transfer through nanoscale gold-water interfaces. We simulated four nanoscale gold structures under various applied heat flux values to evaluate how gold-water interface curvature and temperature affect the interfacial heat transfer. We also considered a case in which we artificially reduced wetting at the gold surfaces by tuning the gold-water interactions to determine if such a perturbation alters the curvature and temperature dependence of the gold-water interfacial heat transfer. We first confirmed that interfacial heat transfer is particularly important for small particles (diameter ≤10 nm). We found that the thermal interface conductance increases linearly with interface curvature regardless of the gold wettability, while it increases nonlinearly with the applied heat flux under normal wetting and remains constant under reduced wetting. Our analysis suggests the curvature dependence of the interface conductance coincides with changes in interfacial water adsorption, while the temperature dependence may arise from temperature-induced shifts in the distribution of water vibrational states. Our study advances the current understanding of interface thermal conductance for a broad range of applications.

Dynamics of Neutral and Charged Nanodiamonds in Aqueous Media Confined between Gold Surfaces under Normal and Shear Loading

The dynamics of cubo-octahedral nanodiamonds (NDs) with three different surface treatments and confined in aqueous environments between gold surfaces under shear and normal loading conditions have been characterized via molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The treatments consisted of carboxyl (-COO-) or amino (-NH3 +) groups attached to the NDs, producing either negatively or positively charged NDs, respectively, and hydrogen-terminated surfaces producing neutral NDs. Simulations were performed in the presence and absence of induced image charges to explore the impact of electrostatic interactions on friction and surface deformation. Significant deformation of the gold surfaces was observed for negatively charged NDs placed between gold surfaces under external loads that were sufficient to displace water from the contact. Rolling and relatively high friction levels were also observed for the negatively charged NDs under the same conditions. In contrast, the neutral and positively charged NDs exhibited sliding behavior with only minor deformation of the gold surfaces. The results suggest that the size of the surface functional group plays a major role in determining whether NDs slide or roll on solid contacts. Higher friction levels were also observed in conjunction with induced image charges in the gold contacts. The results demonstrate how surface functionalization and surface-induced charges can work in combination to profoundly influence tribological performance.

Interdependent Roles of Electrostatics and Surface Functionalization on the Adhesion Strengths of Nanodiamonds to Gold in Aqueous Environments Revealed by Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate that adhesion strengths as a function of charge for aqueous nanodiamonds (NDs) interacting with a gold substrate result from an interdependence of electrostatics and surface functionalization. The simulations reveal a water layer containing Na⁺ counterions between a negative ND with surface -COO^- functional groups that is not present for a positively charged ND with -NH₃⁺ functional groups. The closer proximity of the positive ND to the gold surface and the lack of cancelation of electrostatic interactions due to counterions and the water layer lead to an electrostatic adhesion force for the positive ND that is nearly three times larger than that of the negative ND. Prior interpretations of experimental tribological studies of ND-gold systems suggested that electrostatics or surface functionalization could be responsible for observed adhesion strength differences. The present work demonstrates how these two effects work together in determining adhesion for this system.

Force Field for Water over Pt(111): Development, Assessment, and Comparison

Metal/water interfaces are key in many natural and industrial processes, such as corrosion, atmospheric, or environmental chemistry. Even today, the only practical approach to simulate large interfaces between a metal and water is to perform force-field simulations. In this work, we propose a novel force field, GAL17, to describe the interaction of water and a Pt(111) surface. GAL17 builds on three terms: (i) a standard Lennard-Jones potential for the bonding interaction between the surface and water, (ii) a Gaussian term to improve the surface corrugation, and (iii) two terms describing the angular dependence of the interaction energy. The 12 parameters of this force field are fitted against a set of 210 adsorption geometries of water on Pt(111). The performance of GAL17 is compared to several other approaches that have not been validated against extensive first-principles computations yet. Their respective accuracy is evaluated on an extended set of 802 adsorption geometries of H₂O on Pt(111), 52 geometries derived from icelike layers, and an MD simulation of an interface between a c(4 × 6) Pt(111) surface and a water layer of 14 Å thickness. The newly developed GAL17 force field provides a significant improvement over previously existing force fields for Pt(111)/H₂O interactions. Its well-balanced performance suggests that it is an ideal candidate to generate relevant geometries for the metal/water interface, paving the way to a representative sampling of the equilibrium distribution at the interface and to predict solvation free energies at the solid/liquid interface.

Understanding the Nature of Amino Acid Interactions with Pd(111) or Pd-Au Bimetallic Catalysts in the Aqueous Phase

The interaction of methionine (Met) with different bimetallic-segregated surfaces comprising a uniform distribution of strips and islands of Au on the Pd(111) surface was examined using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Out of all the segregated and uniformly doped surfaces studied, the design of Pd-Au islands showed some reduction in the interaction energy (E_int = -43.7 kJ/mol) as compared to that of the pure Pd(111) surface (E_int = -50 kJ/mol) for a single Met molecule. However, at a higher coverage of 9 Met molecules/simulation cell, none of the Pd-Au alloy surfaces showed any improvement as compared to the Pd(111) surface. In order to develop a comprehensive understanding of the nature of the nonbonded interaction of aqueous biogenic impurities with the Pd catalyst surface, the MD study was extended to include a variety of aliphatic, S-containing, aromatic, and polar amino acids. The potential of mean force (PMF) profiles were observed to be distinct for each class of amino acids with substantial differences among amino acids with acidic and basic side chains. The side chains of all the polar and aromatic amino acids showed direct contact with the surface while aliphatic amino acids had their hydrophobic side chain aligned away from the surface. Interestingly, lysine (Lys) and tyrosine (Tyr) were the only two amino acids which interacted preferentially via the distant backbone nitrogen and backbone oxygen, respectively, despite their side chains being in direct contact with the metal surface. The strength of interaction was correlated with the size of the amino acid; the interaction energies were observed to be the maximum for large molecules such as arginine (Arg, E_int = -87.7 kJ/mol) and tryptophan (Trp, E_int = -73.4 kJ/mol), while it was a minimum for aliphatic amino acids such as alanine (Ala, E_int = -10.9 kJ/mol). The study is focused on examining the sensitivity of the choice of the preferential interaction site, conformational preferences, and interaction energies to the side-chain specificity.

Simulations of inorganic-bioorganic interfaces to discover new materials: insights, comparisons to experiment, challenges, and opportunities

Natural and man-made materials often rely on functional interfaces between inorganic and organic compounds. Examples include skeletal tissues and biominerals, drug delivery systems, catalysts, sensors, separation media, energy conversion devices, and polymer nanocomposites. Current laboratory techniques are limited to monitor and manipulate assembly on the 1 to 100 nm scale, time-consuming, and costly. Computational methods have become increasingly reliable to understand materials assembly and performance. This review explores the merit of simulations in comparison to experiment at the 1 to 100 nm scale, including connections to smaller length scales of quantum mechanics and larger length scales of coarse-grain models. First, current simulation methods, advances in the understanding of chemical bonding, in the development of force fields, and in the development of chemically realistic models are described. Then, the recognition mechanisms of biomolecules on nanostructured metals, semimetals, oxides, phosphates, carbonates, sulfides, and other inorganic materials are explained, including extensive comparisons between modeling and laboratory measurements. Depending on the substrate, the role of soft epitaxial binding mechanisms, ion pairing, hydrogen bonds, hydrophobic interactions, and conformation effects is described. Applications of the knowledge from simulation to predict binding of ligands and drug molecules to the inorganic surfaces, crystal growth and shape development, catalyst performance, as well as electrical properties at interfaces are examined. The quality of estimates from molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations is validated in comparison to measurements and design rules described where available. The review further describes applications of simulation methods to polymer composite materials, surface modification of nanofillers, and interfacial interactions in building materials. The complexity of functional multiphase materials creates opportunities to further develop accurate force fields, including reactive force fields, and chemically realistic surface models, to enable materials discovery at a million times lower computational cost compared to quantum mechanical methods. The impact of modeling and simulation could further be increased by the advancement of a uniform simulation platform for organic and inorganic compounds across the periodic table and new simulation methods to evaluate system performance in silico.

Influence of the shape of nanostructured metal surfaces on adsorption of single peptide molecules in aqueous solution

Self-assembly and function of biologically modified metal nanostructures depend on surface-selective adsorption; however, the influence of the shape of metal surfaces on peptide adsorption mechanisms has been poorly understood. The adsorption of single peptide molecules in aqueous solution (Tyr(12) , Ser(12) , A3, Flg-Na(3) ) is investigated on even {111} surfaces, stepped surfaces, and a 2 nm cuboctahedral nanoparticle of gold using molecular dynamics simulation with the CHARMM-METAL force field. Strong and selective adsorption is found on even surfaces and the inner edges of stepped surfaces (-20 to -60 kcal/mol peptide) in contrast to weaker and less selective adsorption on small nanoparticles (-15 to -25 kcal/mol peptide). Binding and selectivity appear to be controlled by the size of surface features and the extent of co-ordination of epitaxial sites by polarizable atoms (N, O, C) along the peptide chain. The adsorption energy of a single peptide equals a fraction of the sum of the adsorption energies of individual amino acids that is characteristic of surface shape, epitaxial pattern, and conformation constraints (often β-strand and random coil). The proposed adsorption mechanism is supported and critically evaluated by earlier sequence data from phage display, dissociation constants of small proteins as a function of nanoparticle size, and observed shapes of peptide-stabilized nanoparticles. Understanding the interaction of single peptides with shaped metal surfaces is a key step towards control over self-organization of multiple peptides on shaped metal surfaces and the assembly of superstructures from nanostructures.

Polarization at metal-biomolecular interfaces in solution

Metal surfaces in contact with water, surfactants and biopolymers experience attractive polarization owing to induced charges. This fundamental physical interaction complements stronger epitaxial and covalent surface interactions and remains difficult to measure experimentally. We present a first step to quantify polarization on even gold (Au) surfaces in contact with water and with aqueous solutions of peptides of different charge state (A3 and Flg-Na3) by molecular dynamics simulation in all-atomic resolution and a posteriori computation of the image potential. Attractive polarization scales with the magnitude of atomic charges and with the length of multi-poles in the aqueous phase such as the distance between cationic and anionic groups. The polarization energy per surface area is similar on aqueous Au {1 1 1} and Au {1 0 0} interfaces of approximately -50 mJ m(-2) and decreases to -70 mJ m(-2) in the presence of charged peptides. In molecular terms, the polarization energy corresponds to -2.3 and -0.1 kJ mol(-1) for water in the first and second molecular layers on the metal surface, and to between -40 and 0 kJ mol(-1) for individual amino acids in the peptides depending on the charge state, multi-pole length and proximity to the surface. The net contribution of polarization to peptide adsorption on the metal surface is determined by the balance between polarization by the peptide and loss of polarization by replaced surface-bound water. On metal surfaces with significant epitaxial attraction of peptides such as Au {1 1 1}, polarization contributes only 10-20% to total adsorption related to similar polarity of water and of amino acids. On metal surfaces with weak epitaxial attraction of peptides such as Au {1 0 0}, polarization is a major contribution to adsorption, especially for charged peptides (-80 kJ mol(-1) for peptide Flg-Na(3)). A remaining water interlayer between the metal surface and the peptide then reduces losses in polarization energy by replaced surface-bound water. Computed polarization energies are sensitive to the precise location of the image plane (within tenths of Angstroms near the jellium edge). The computational method can be extended to complex nanometre and micrometer-size surface topologies.

Adsorption enthalpy determination on silica-supported metallic nanoparticles

A new specific method to measure adsorption enthalpy on supported metallic nanoparticles has been developed. This method is based on gas chromatography measurements, and it allows the calculation of adsorption enthalpies on metallic nanoparticles while neglecting the effect of the supporting particle. In this paper, we discuss the specific case of the adsorption of benzene on the surface of silica-supported gold nanoparticles. The results show a good correlation with similar values found in the literature.

Aromatic adsorption on metals via first-principles density functional theory

We review first-principles calculations relevant to the adsorption of aromatic molecules on metal surfaces. Benzene has been intensively studied on a variety of substrates, providing an opportunity to comment upon trends from one metal to another. Meanwhile, calculations elucidating the adsorption of polycyclic aromatic molecules are more sparse, but nevertheless yield important insights into the role of non-covalent interactions. Heterocyclic and substituted aromatic compounds introduce the complicating possibility of electronic and steric effects, whose relative importance can thus far only be gauged on a case-by-case basis. Finally, the coadsorption and/or reaction of aromatic molecules is discussed, highlighting an area where the predictive power of theory is likely to prove decisive in the future.

Heat transfer from nanoparticles: a corresponding state analysis

In this contribution, we study situations in which nanoparticles in a fluid are strongly heated, generating high heat fluxes. This situation is relevant to experiments in which a fluid is locally heated by using selective absorption of radiation by solid particles. We first study this situation for different types of molecular interactions, using models for gold particles suspended in octane and in water. As already reported in experiments, very high heat fluxes and temperature elevations (leading eventually to particle destruction) can be observed in such situations. We show that a very simple modeling based on Lennard-Jones (LJ) interactions captures the essential features of such experiments and that the results for various liquids can be mapped onto the LJ case, provided a physically justified (corresponding state) choice of parameters is made. Physically, the possibility of sustaining very high heat fluxes is related to the strong curvature of the interface that inhibits the formation of an insulating vapor film.

Interface between platinum(111) and liquid isopropanol (2-propanol): A model for molecular dynamics studies

A molecular dynamics model and its parametrization procedure are devised and used to study adsorption of isopropanol on platinum(111) (Pt(111)) surface in unsaturated and oversaturated coverages regimes. Static and dynamic properties of the interface between Pt(111) and liquid isopropanol are also investigated. The magnitude of the adsorption energy at unsaturated level increases at higher coverages. At the oversaturated coverage (multilayer adsorption) the adsorption energy reduces, which coincides with findings by Panja et al. in their temperature-programed desorption experiment [Surf. Sci. 395, 248 (1998)]. The density analysis showed a strong packing of molecules at the interface followed by a depletion layer and then by an oscillating density profile up to 3 nm. The distribution of individual atom types showed that the first adsorbed layer forms a hydrophobic methyl "brush." This brush then determines the distributions further from the surface. In the second layer methyl and methine groups are closer to the surface and followed by the hydroxyl groups; the third layer has exactly the inverted distribution. The alternating pattern extends up to about 2 nm from the surface. The orientational structure of molecules as a function of distance of molecules is determined by the atom distribution and surprisingly does not depend on the electrostatic or chemical interactions of isopropanol with the metal surface. However, possible formation of hydrogen bonds in the first layer is notably influenced by these interactions. The surface-adsorbate interactions influence the mobility of isopropanol molecules only in the first layer. Mobility in the higher layers is independent of these interactions.

Adaptive resolution scheme for efficient hybrid atomistic-mesoscale molecular dynamics simulations of dense liquids

The adaptive resolution scheme (AdResS) for efficient hybrid particle-based atomistic/mesoscale molecular dynamics (MD) simulations recently introduced by us, [J. Chem. Phys. 123, 224106 (2005)] is extended to high density molecular liquids with spherical boundaries between the atomistic and mesoscale regions. The key feature of this approach is that it allows for a dynamical change of the number of molecular degrees of freedom during the course of a MD simulation by an on-the-fly switching between the atomistic and mesoscopic levels of detail. Pressure and density variations occurring at the atomistic/mesoscale boundary in the original version are considerably reduced employing the improved methodology presented here.