Debye screening, overscreening and specific adsorption in solutions of organic ions
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Supporting information
Accepted version
Author(s)
Bresme, Fernando
Robotham, Oliver
Chio, Weng-I Katherine
Gonzalez, Miguel Angel
Kornyshev, Alexei
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Tetrabutylammonium (TBA) and tetraphenylborate (TPB) ions dissolved in dichloroethane (DCE) are widely used in electrochemistry of liquid–liquid interfaces. Unlike alkali halide solutions in water, TBA–TPB–DCE solutions feature large organic ions and a solvent with a dielectric constant almost one order of magnitude lower than that of water. This is expected to dramatically amplify the impact of ionic correlations in the properties of the solution. Here we report atomistic simulations of TBA–TPB–DCE solutions and analyze ion correlations, clustering, and charge screening effects. We target concentrations in the range of 0.01–0.25 molal (m), hence exploring concentration regimes typical for many experimental investigations. We show that the transition from monotonic to oscillatory decay of the charge density, which signals the onset of strong ion correlations, takes place in this concentration interval, leading to overscreening effects. Furthermore, we investigate the distribution and adsorption of ions at the DCE–air interface. Unlike what is observed for small inorganic ions in water at similar concentrations, we find that TPB and TBA ions accumulate near the DCE surface, resulting in significant interfacial clustering and adsorption at concentrations ∼0.25 m. TPB ions adsorb more strongly leading to free energy wells of ∼1–2 kBT. The adsorption modifies significantly the electrostatic potential of the DCE–air interface, which undergoes a shift of 0.2 V in going from pure DCE to TBA–TPB–DCE solutions at 0.25 m.
Date Issued
2018-11-21
Date Acceptance
2018-10-15
Citation
Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 2018, 20 (43), pp.27684-27693
ISSN
1463-9076
Publisher
Royal Society of Chemistry
Start Page
27684
End Page
27693
Journal / Book Title
Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics
Volume
20
Issue
43
Copyright Statement
© 2018 the Owner Societies
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000449499100042&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Chemistry, Physical
Physics, Atomic, Molecular & Chemical
Chemistry
Physics
ELECTRICAL DOUBLE-LAYER
MONTE-CARLO-SIMULATION
PRIMITIVE MODEL
ELECTROLYTE-SOLUTIONS
MOLECULAR-DYNAMICS
INTERFACE
HYDRATION
TENSION
SURFACE
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2018-10-15