Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 1, 2026

Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship, Activity Prediction, and Molecular Dynamics of Non-nucleotide Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors
Published on: May 9, 2025
Modelling molecule-surface interactions--an automated quantum-classical approach using a genetic algorithm
Claudia R Herbers1, Karen Johnston, Nico F A van der Vegt
1Center of Smart Interfaces-TU Darmstadt, Petersenstr. 32, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany.
Abstract:
We present an automated and efficient method to develop force fields for molecule-surface interactions. A genetic algorithm (GA) is used to parameterise a classical force field so that the classical adsorption energy landscape of a molecule on a surface matches the corresponding landscape from density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The procedure performs a sophisticated search in the parameter phase space and converges very quickly. The method is capable of fitting a significant number of structures and corresponding adsorption energies. Water on a ZnO(0001) surface was chosen as a benchmark system but the method is implemented in a flexible way and can be applied to any system of interest. In the present case, pairwise Lennard Jones (LJ) and Coulomb potentials are used to describe the molecule-surface interactions. In the course of the fitting procedure, the LJ parameters are refined in order to reproduce the adsorption energy landscape. The classical model is capable of describing a wide range of energies, which is essential for a realistic description of a fluid-solid interface.
Related Concept Videos
Mechanistic Models: Compartment Models in Algorithms for Numerical Problem Solving
In individual population analyses, different algorithms are employed, such as Cauchy's method, which uses a...
Molecular Models
Predicting Molecular Geometry
Quantitative Aspects of Drug-Receptor Interaction

