High density liquid structure enhancement in glass forming aqueous solution of LiCl

We investigate using molecular dynamics simulations the dynamical and structural properties of LiCl:6H₂O aqueous solution upon supercooling. This ionic solution is a glass forming liquid of relevant interest in connection with the study of the anomalies of supercooled water. The LiCl:6H₂O solution is easily supercooled and the liquid state can be maintained over a large decreasing temperature range. We performed simulations from ambient to 200 K in order to investigate how the presence of the salt modifies the behavior of supercooled water. The study of the relaxation time of the self-density correlation function shows that the system follows the prediction of the mode coupling theory and behaves like a fragile liquid in all the range explored. The analysis of the changes in the water structure induced by the salt shows that while the salt preserves the water hydrogen bonds in the system, it strongly affects the tetrahedral hydrogen bond network. Following the interpretation of the anomalies of water in terms of a two-state model, the modifications of the oxygen radial distribution function and the angular distribution function of the hydrogen bonds in water indicate that LiCl has the role of enhancing the high density liquid component of water with respect to the low density component. This is in agreement with recent experiments on aqueous ionic solutions.