Computational study of formation dynamics and structure of amorphous ice condensates

Efficient approaches to solutions of partition function for condensed matters

The key problem of statistical physics standing over one hundred years is how to exactly calculate the partition function (or free energy), which severely hinders the theory to be applied to predict the thermodynamic properties of condensed matters. Very recently, we developed a direct integral approach (DIA) to the solutions and achieved ultrahigh computational efficiency and precision. In the present work, the background and the limitations of DIA were examined in details, and another method with the same efficiency was established to overcome the shortage of DIA for condensed system with lower density. The two methods were demonstrated with empirical potentials for solid and liquid cooper, solid argon and C₆₀ molecules by comparing the derived internal energy or pressure with the results of vast molecular dynamics simulations, showing that the precision is about ten times higher than previous methods in a temperature range up to melting point. The ultrahigh efficiency enables the two methods to be performed with ab initio calculations and the experimental equation of state of solid copper up to ∼600 GPa was well reproduced, for the first time, from the partition function via density functional theory implemented.

A New Model to Predict Optimum Conditions for Growth of 2D Materials on a Substrate

Deposition of atoms or molecules on a solid surface is a flexible way to prepare various novel two-dimensional materials if the growth conditions, such as suitable surface and optimum temperature, could be predicted theoretically. However, prediction challenges modern theory of material design because the free energy criteria can hardly be applied to this issue due to the long-standing problem in statistical physics of the calculations of the free energy. Herein, we present an approach to the problem by the demonstrations of graphene and γ-graphyne on the surface of copper crystal, as well as silicene on a silver substrate. Compared with previous state-of-the-art algorithms for calculations of the free energy, our approach is capable of achieving computational precisions at least 10-times higher, which was confirmed by molecular dynamics simulations, and working at least four orders of magnitude faster, which enables us to obtain free energy based on ab initio calculations of the interaction potential instead of the empirical one. The approach was applied to predict the optimum conditions for silicene growth on different surfaces of solid silver based on density functional theory, and the results are in good agreement with previous experimental observations.

Multi-scale study of condensation in water jets using ellipsoidal-statistical Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook and molecular dynamics modeling

Homogeneous water condensation and ice formation in supersonic expansions to vacuum for stagnation pressures from 12 to 1000 mbar are studied using the particle-based Ellipsoidal-Statistical Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (ES-BGK) method. We find that when condensation starts to occur, at a stagnation pressure of 96 mbar, the increase in the degree of condensation causes an increase in the rotational temperature due to the latent heat of vaporization. The simulated rotational temperature profiles along the plume expansion agree well with measurements confirming the kinetic homogeneous condensation models and the method of simulation. Comparisons of the simulated gas and cluster number densities, cluster size for different stagnation pressures along the plume centerline were made and it is found that the cluster size increase linearly with respect to stagnation pressure, consistent with classical nucleation theory. The sensitivity of our results to cluster nucleation model and latent heat values based on bulk water, specific cluster size, or bulk ice are examined. In particular, the ES-BGK simulations are found to be too coarse-grained to provide information on the phase or structure of the clusters formed. For this reason, molecular dynamics simulations of water condensation in a one-dimensional free expansion to simulate the conditions in the core of a plume are performed. We find that the internal structure of the clusters formed depends on the stagnation temperature. A larger cluster of average size 21 was tracked down the expansion, and a calculation of its average internal temperature as well as a comparison of its radial distribution functions (RDFs) with values measured for solid amorphous ice clusters lead us to conclude that this cluster is in a solid-like rather than liquid form. In another molecular-dynamics simulation at a much lower stagnation temperature, a larger cluster of size 324 and internal temperature 200 K was extracted from an expansion plume and equilibrated to determine its RDF and self-diffusion coefficient. The value of the latter shows that this cluster is formed in a supercooled liquid state rather than in an amorphous solid state.

Evaluating the ability to form single crystal

Design of crystal materials requires predicting the ability of bulk materials to form single crystals, challenging current theories of material design. By introducing a concept of condensing potential (CP), it is shown via vast simulations of crystal growth for fcc (Ni, Cu, Al, Ar) and hcp (Mg), that materials with larger CP can grow into perfect single crystal more easily. Due to the simplicity of the calculation of CP, this method might prove a convenient way to evaluate the ability of materials to form single crystal.

D(2) desorption kinetics on amorphous solid water: from compact to porous ice films

The desorption kinetics of D(2) from amorphous solid water (ASW) films have been studied by the temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) technique in the 10-30 K temperature range. Compact (and nonporous) films were grown at 120 K over a copper substrate. Ultra-thin porous films were additionally grown at 10 K over the compact base. The TPD spectra from compact and from up to 20 monolayers (ML) porous films were compared. The simulation of the TPD experimental traces provides the corresponding D(2) binding-energy distributions. As compared to the compact case, the binding-energy distribution found for the 10 ML porous film clearly extends to higher energies. To study the transition from compact to porous ice, porous films of intermediate thicknesses (<10 ML), including ultra-thin films (<1 ML), were grown over the compact substrate. The thermal D(2) desorption peak was found to shift to higher temperatures as the porous ice network was progressively formed. This behavior can be explained by the formation of more energetic binding sites related to porous films. TPD spectra were also modelled by using a combination of the two energy distributions, one associated to a bare compact ice and the other associated to a 10 ML porous ice film. This analysis reveals a very fast evolution of the binding-energy distribution towards that of porous ice. Our results show that few ML of additional porous film are sufficient to produce a sample for which the D(2) adsorption can be described by the energy distribution found for the 10 ML porous film. These experiments then provide evidence that the binding energy of D(2) on ASW ice is primarily governed by the topological and morphological disorder of the surface at molecular scale.

Isomers of C36 and free energy criteria for cluster growth

A molecular dynamics procedure is developed to search for cluster isomers and is used to study the isomer spectrum of C36 with the Brenner potential. Beginning with isolated carbon atom, the procedure quickly arrives at the D6h cage with the lowest potential and produces other 410 isomers. Among these isomers, we selected ones of typical cage, bowl, and sheet structures to calculate their free energies at 2300 K and performed molecular dynamics simulations starting either from 36 free carbon atoms diluted in He buffer gas kept at 2300 K or from the D6h cage under the same conditions, which show that the microsystem reaches a kinetic equilibrium within about 100 ns and that the isomer of the lowest free energy rather than the D6h cage of the lowest potential energy dominates in the resultant cluster.

Interaction of D2 with H2O amorphous ice studied by temperature-programed desorption experiments

The gas-surface interaction of molecular hydrogen D2 with a thin film of porous amorphous solid water (ASW) grown at 10 K by slow vapor deposition has been studied by temperature-programmed-desorption (TPD) experiments. Molecular hydrogen diffuses rapidly into the porous network of the ice. The D2 desorption occurring between 10 and 30 K is considered here as a good probe of the effective surface of ASW interacting with the gas. The desorption kinetics have been systematically measured at various coverages. A careful analysis based on the Arrhenius plot method has provided the D2 binding energies as a function of the coverage. Asymmetric and broad distributions of binding energies were found, with a maximum population peaking at low energy. We propose a model for the desorption kinetics that assumes a complete thermal equilibrium of the molecules with the ice film. The sample is characterized by a distribution of adsorption sites that are filled according to a Fermi-Dirac statistic law. The TPD curves can be simulated and fitted to provide the parameters describing the distribution of the molecules as a function of their binding energy. This approach contributes to a correct description of the interaction of molecular hydrogen with the surface of possibly porous grain mantles in the interstellar medium.

Influence of surface morphology on D2 desorption kinetics from amorphous solid water

The influence of surface morphology/porosity on the desorption kinetics of weakly bound species was investigated by depositing D2 on amorphous solid water (ASW) films grown by low temperature vapor deposition under various conditions and with differing thermal histories. A broad distribution of binding energies of the D2 monolayer on nonporous and porous ASW was measured experimentally and correlated by theoretical calculations to differences in the degree of coordination of the adsorbed H2 (D2) to H2O molecules in the ASW depending on the nature of the adsorption site, i.e., surface valleys vs surface peaks in a nanoscale rough film surface. For porous films, the effect of porosity on the desorption kinetics was observed to be a reduction in the desorption rate with film thickness and a change in peak shape. This can be partly explained by fast diffusion into the ASW pore structure via a simple one-dimensional diffusion model and by a change in binding energy statistics with increasing total effective surface area. Furthermore, the D2 desorption kinetics on thermally annealed ASW films were investigated. The main effect was seen to be a reduction in porosity and in the number of highly coordinated binding sites with anneal temperature due to ASW restructuring and pore collapse. These results contribute to the understanding of desorption from porous materials and to the development of correct models for desorption from and catalytic processes on dust grain surfaces in the interstellar medium.

Sticking of CO to crystalline and amorphous ice surfaces

We present results of classical trajectory calculations on the sticking of hyperthermal CO to the basal plane (0001) face of crystalline ice Ih and to the surface of amorphous ice Ia. The calculations were performed for normal incidence at a surface temperature Ts = 90 K for ice Ia, and at Ts = 90 and 150 K for ice Ih. For both surfaces, the sticking probability can be fitted to a simple exponentially decaying function of the incidence energy, Ei: Ps = 1.0e(-Ei(kJ/mol)/90(kJ/mol)) at Ts = 90 K. The energy transfer from the impinging molecule to the crystalline and the amorphous surface is found to be quite efficient, in agreement with the results of molecular beam experiments on the scattering of the similar molecule, N2, from crystalline and amorphous ice. However, the energy transfer is less efficient for amorphous than for crystalline ice. Our calculations predict that the sticking probability decreases with Ts for CO scattering from crystalline ice, as the energy transfer from the impinging molecule to the warmer surfaces becomes less efficient. At high Ei (up to 193 kJ/mol), no surface penetration occurs in the case of crystalline ice. However, for CO colliding with the amorphous surface, a penetrating trajectory was observed to occur into a large water pore. The molecular dynamics calculations predict that the average potential energy of CO adsorbed to ice Ih is -10.1 +/- 0.2 and -8.4 +/- 0.2 kJ/mol for CO adsorbed to ice Ia. These values are in agreement with previous experimental and theoretical data. The distribution of the potential energy of CO adsorbed to ice Ia was found to be wider (with a standard deviation sigma of 2.4 kJ/mol) than that of CO interacting with ice Ih (sigma = 2.0 kJ/mol). In collisions with ice Ia, the CO molecules scatter at larger angles and over a wider distribution of angles than in collisions with ice Ih.

Controlling the morphology of amorphous solid water

The morphology of amorphous solid water grown by vapor deposition was found to depend strongly on the angular distribution of the water molecules incident from the gas phase. Systematic variation of the incident angle during deposition using a collimated beam of water led to the growth of nonporous to highly porous amorphous solid water. The physical and chemical properties of amorphous solid water are of interest because of its presence in astrophysical environments. The ability to control its properties in the laboratory may shed light on some of the outstanding conflicts related to this important material.

The sticking probability of a hydrogen atom on icy mantle

In the present work, we investigate the sticking process of a hydrogen atom on the surface of dust grains. As a realistic model for the icy mantle of dust grains, we produced slab-shaped amorphous water ice with infinite area by classical molecular dynamics (MD) computational simulation using two-dimensional periodic boundary condition. The resulting amorphous water ice slabs at 10 K and 70 K were found to be in good agreement with the experimental high-density and low-density amorphous water ice, respectively. Then, we investigated the dynamical behaviors of an impinging H atom on the surface of it by MD simulations. The sticking probabilities of incident H atoms with several initial temperatures on 10 K and 70 K ice were obtained. It was found that most of H atoms colliding with the 10 K ice stuck on the surface of it. After having stuck, the impinging H atoms diffused on the surface of ice and became trapped in one of potential wells on the surface. The mobility of a H atom on the surface of the amorphous water ice was found to depend only upon the temperature of ice.

Two Calorimetrically Distinct States of Liquid Water Below 150 Kelvin

Vapor-deposited amorphous solid and hyperquenched glassy water were found to irreversibly transform, on compression at 77 kelvin, to a high-density amorphous solid. On heating at atmospheric pressure, this solid became viscous water (water B), with a reversible glass-liquid transition onset at 129 +/- 2 kelvin. A different form of viscous water (water A) was formed by heating the uncompressed vapor-deposited amorphous solid and hyperquenched liquid water. On thermal cycling up to 148 kelvin, water B remained kinetically and thermodynamically distinct from water A. The occurrence of these two states, which do not interconvert, helps explain both the configurational relaxation of water and stress-induced amorphization.

Probing the structure of cometary ice

Computer simulations of bulk and vapor deposited amorphous ices are presented. The structure of the bulk low density amorphous ice is in good agreement with experiments on pressure disordered amorphous ice. Both the low density bulk ice and the vapor deposited ices exhibit strong ordering. Vapor deposition of hot (300 K) water molecules onto a cold (77 K) substrate yields less porous ices than deposition of cold (77 K) water molecules onto a cold substrate. Both vapor deposited ices are more porous than the bulk amorphous ice. The structure of bulk high density amorphous ice is only in fair agreement with experimental results. Attempts to simulate high density amorphous ice via vapor deposition were not successful. Electron diffraction results on vapor deposited amorphous ice indicate that the temperature of the nucleation of the cubic phase depends upon the amount of time between the deposition and the onset of crystallization, suggesting that freshly deposited ice layers reconstruct on times of the order of hours. The temperature dependence of the microporosity of the vapor deposited amorphous ices might affect laboratory experiments that are aimed at simulating astrophysical ices in the context of the origin of prebiotic organic material and its transport to the Earth.