Dissociation of NaCl in water from ab initio molecular dynamics simulations

We perform ab initio molecular dynamics simulations to study the dissociation of NaCl in water. The potential of mean force (PMF) between the two ions is determined using the constrained-force method. The simulation windows corresponding to the contact and solvent-separated minima, and the transition state in between, are further analyzed to determine the changes in the properties of hydration waters such as coordination number, dipole moment, and orientation. The ab initio results are compared with those obtained from classical molecular dynamics simulations of aqueous NaCl using several common force fields. The ab initio PMF is found to have a shallower contact minimum and a smaller transition barrier compared with the classical ones. Also the binding free energy calculated from the ab initio PMF almost vanishes whereas it is negative for all the classical PMFs. Water dipole moments are observed to exhibit little change during dissociation, indicating that description of NaCl with a nonpolarizable force field may be feasible. However, overcoordination of the ion pair at all distances remains as a serious shortcoming of the current classical models. The ab initio results presented here provide useful guidance for alternative parametrizations of the nonpolarizable force fields as well as the polarizable ones currently under construction.