Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Small Clusters and Liquid Hydrogen Sulfide at Different Thermodynamic Conditions

A new force field for the intermolecular H2S-H2S interaction has been used to study the most relevant properties of the hydrogen sulfide system from gaseous to liquid phases by means of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. In order to check the validity of the interaction formulation, ab initio CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ calculations, including the counterpoise correction on the H2S, (H2S)2, and (H2S)3 structures optimized at the MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ level, have been performed. The (H2S)2,3 systems have been characterized by performing NVE MD simulations at decreasing values of the temperature, while the liquid sulfide behavior has been investigated considering a NpT ensemble of 512 molecules at several thermodynamic states, defined by different pressure and temperature values. Additional calculations using an ensemble of 2197 molecules at two different temperatures have been performed to investigate the liquid/vapor interface of the system. The S-S, S-H, and H-H radial distribution functions and the coordination number, calculated at the same conditions used in X-ray and neutron diffraction experiments, and the evaluated thermodynamic and structural properties have been compared successfully with experimental data, thus confirming the reliability of the force field formulation and of the MD predictions.