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Dipole polarizabilities of a series of ions in aqueous solutions are computed from first-principles. The procedure is based on the study of the linear response of the maximally localized Wannier functions to an applied external field, within density functional theory. For most monoatomic cations (Li(+), Na(+), K(+), Rb(+), Mg(2+), Ca(2+) and Sr(2+)) the computed polarizabilities are the same as in the gas phase. For Cs(+) and a series of anions (F(-), Cl(-), Br(-) and I(-)), environmental effects are observed, which reduce the polarizabilities in aqueous solutions with respect to their gas phase values. The polarizabilities of H((aq)) (+), OH((aq)) (-) have also been determined along an ab initio molecular dynamics simulation. We observe that the polarizability of a molecule instantaneously switches upon proton transfer events. Finally, we also computed the polarizability tensor in the case of a strongly anisotropic molecular ion, UO(2) (2+). The results of these calculations will be useful in building interaction potentials that include polarization effects.

The internal mobility gives the rate at which one ionic species moves relative to the other species present in an ionic mixture, it mirrors the differential strength of the interactions between different ionic species. In this work we examine the dependence of the internal mobilities of the Li(+) and K(+) ions on the composition in molten mixtures of LiF and KF. We compare them to the behaviour of the individual diffusion coefficients and the self-exchange velocities, which measure the rate at which an ion separates from its nearest-neighbour coordination shell. The examination is made using molecular dynamics simulations with polarizable, first-principles parameterised interaction potentials which are shown to reproduce the limited available experimental data on the transport properties of these mixtures extremely well. The results confirm that the composition-dependence of the internal mobilities in LiF/KF follows the unusual type-II behaviour, which is not reflected in that of the diffusion coefficients or the self-exchange velocities.

The potential-driven ordering transition of a LiCl layer adsorbed on the (100) surface of a metallic aluminum electrode is studied by molecular dynamics simulations. The transition causes a sharp peak in the potential dependence of the differential capacitance of the interface. This result is in qualitative agreement with recently reported experimental work on the interface between a room temperature ionic liquid and a well-defined Au(100) surface. In the LiCl/Al simulations, the transition occurs when the interaction model includes the induction of dipoles on the ions of the liquid by their mutual interaction and their interaction with the electrode surface as well as the polarization of the metal by the charges and dipoles on the ions ("image" interactions). When the electrode or ion polarization effects are not included, the transition is no longer observed. The interaction between the induced charges on the metal atoms and the induced dipoles on the ions creates an additional screening, which stabilizes the formation of a crystalline layer at the anode. When the crystallographic plane of the metal is changed to (110) instead of (100), the two first adsorbed layer are crystalline on both the anode and the cathode, but the structure is different: the crystal is formed through an epitaxial mechanism to adapt to the electrode surface structure. In the case of the (110) crystallographic plane, the charging of the adsorbed layer occurs through the formation of nonstoichiometric crystalline layers.

We propose in this paper an original approach to study the structure of the molten LiF-ZrF(4) system up to 50 mol % ZrF(4), combining high-temperature nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) experiments with molecular dynamics (MD) calculations. (91)Zr high-temperature NMR experiments give an average coordination of 7 for the zirconium ion on all domains of composition. MD simulations, in agreement with EXAFS experiments at the K-edge of Zr, provide evidence for the coexistence of three different Zr-based complexes, [ZrF(6)](2-), [ZrF(7)](3-), and [ZrF(8)](4-), in the melt; the evolution of the concentration of these species upon addition of ZrF(4) is quantified. Smooth variations are observed, apart from a given composition at 35 mol % ZrF(4), for which an anomalous point is observed. Concerning the anion coordination, we observe a predominance of free fluorides at low concentrations in ZrF(4), and an increase of the number of bridging fluoride ions between complexes with addition of ZrF(4).

In this work we study the high-pressure behaviour of liquid and glassy GeO(2) by means of molecular dynamics simulations. The interaction potential, which includes dipole polarization effects, was parametrized using first-principles calculations. Our simulations reproduce the most recent experimental structural data very well. The character of the pressure-induced structural transition in the glassy system has been a matter of controversy. We show that our simulations and the experimental data are consistent with a smooth transition from a tetrahedral to an octahedral network with a significant number of pentacoordinated germanium ions appearing over an extended pressure range. Finally, the study of high-pressure, liquid germania confirms that this material presents an anomalous behaviour of the diffusivity as observed in analogous systems such as silica and water. The importance of pentacoordinated germanium ions for such behaviour is stressed.

The reliability of force fields is one of today's major challenges in atomic scale computer simulations. We show how to generate predictive force fields from ab initio simulations in the condensed phase, using maximally localized Wannier orbitals (WO). We derive separately all interaction terms (electrostatic, exchange repulsion, dispersion, and induction) from these localized WOs. We demonstrate the excellent quality of the resulting force field for two different materials: molten salts and liquid water. This reinforces the usefulness of chemical concepts such as Lewis pairs. The localized WOs provide the missing link between electronic structure in condensed-phase and material properties.

The local structure and the dynamics of molten LiF-KF mixtures have been studied by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and molecular dynamics simulations. We have measured and calculated the self-diffusion coefficients of fluorine, lithium and potassium across the full composition range around the liquidus temperature and at 1123 K. Close to the liquidus temperature, D(F), D(Li) and D(K) change with composition in a way that mimics the phase diagram shape. At 1123 K D(F), D(Li) and D(K) depend linearly on the LiF molar fraction. These results show that the composition affects the self-diffusion of anions and cations more weakly than the temperature. The activation energy for diffusion was also determined and its value can be correlated with the strength of the anion-cation interaction in molten fluoride salts.

We present a method to derive implicit solvent models of electrolyte solutions from all-atom descriptions; providing analytical expressions of the thermodynamic and structural properties of the ions consistent with the underlying explicit solvent representation. Effective potentials between ions in solution are calculated to perform perturbation theory calculations, in order to derive the best possible description in terms of charged hard spheres. Applying this method to NaCl solutions yields excellent agreement with the all-atom model, provided ion association is taken into account.

Expressions for the energy current of a system of charged, polarizable ions in periodic boundary conditions are developed in order to allow the thermal conductivity in such a system to be calculated by computer simulation using the Green-Kubo method. Dipole polarizable potentials for LiCl, NaCl, and KCl are obtained on a first-principles basis by "force matching" to the results of ab initio calculations on suitable condensed-phase ionic configurations. Simulation results for the thermal conductivity, and also other transport coefficients, for the melts are compared with experimental data and with results obtained with other interaction potentials. The agreement with experiment is almost quantitative, especially for NaCl and KCl, indicating that these methodologies, perhaps with more sophisticated forms for the potential, can be used to predict thermal conductivities for melts for which experimental determination is very difficult. It is demonstrated that the polarization effects have an important effect on the energy current and are crucial to a predictive scheme for the thermal conductivity.

The ability to separate fission products by electrodeposition from molten salts depends, in part, on differences between the interactions of the different fission product cations with the ions present in the molten salt "solvent". These differences may be expressed as ratios of activity coefficients, which depend on the identity of the solvent and other factors. Here, we demonstrate the ability to calculate these activity coefficient ratios using molecular dynamics simulations with sufficient precision to guide the choice of suitable solvent systems in practical applications. We use polarizable ion interaction potentials which have previously been shown to give excellent agreement with structural, transport, and spectroscopic information of the molten salts, and the activity coefficients calculated in this work agree well with experimental data. The activity coefficients are shown to vary systematically with cation size for a set of trivalent cations.

The relationships between the ionic mobility, the viscosity, and the atomic-scale structure are investigated in computer simulations of mixtures of LiF and the network glass-forming material BeF(2). The simulations span a wide range of compositions, across which the fluidity of the system changes greatly due to the break-up of the Be-F network by the addition of the LiF. The relationship between the conductivity and viscosity passes from that expected for independently diffusing ions in the dilute mixtures to strongly decoupled Li+ migration through a viscous network at higher concentrations. The transition between these régimes is linked to the changing local and intermediate-scale structure in the melts. The decoupling phenomenon is associated with the appearance of migration channels in the network which leads to cooperative effects in the Li+ migration.

The construction of an interaction potential for BeF2 and its mixtures with LiF on a purely first-principles basis is described. The quality of the representation of the forces on the ions obtained from ab initio electronic structure calculations by various potentials, which include many-body interaction effects to different extents, are considered. The predictions of the properties of pure BeF2 obtained in simulations with a polarizable potential are then compared with experimental values. In the subsequent paper, a more extensive comparison of the predicted properties of LiF-BeF2 mixtures with experiment is considered.

A polarizable ionic interaction potential, constructed from first-principles calculations, is used to examine the structure, vibrational spectra, and transport properties of molten mixtures of LiF and BeF2 across a range of compositions. The simulations reproduce the experimentally measured vibrational frequencies of the fluoroberyllate (BeF4(2-)) ions, which form in the melt, as well as conductivity and viscosity values across the composition range. Examination of the structures of the melts reveals the emergence of a slowly relaxing network of BeF4 units as the concentration of BeF2 is increased. The relationship between the appearance of the network and the composition dependence of the transport properties is explored.