Structure and dynamics of the hydration shells of the Zn2+ ion from ab initio molecular dynamics and combined ab initio and classical molecular dynamics simulations
Authors: Cauët Emilie , Bogatko Stuart , Weare John H. , Fulton John L. , Schenter Gregory K. , Bylaska Eric J. 
Published: May 2010

Results of ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations (density functional theory+PBE96) of the dynamics of waters in the hydration shells surrounding the Zn2+ ion (T≈300 K, ρ≈1 gm/cm3) are compared to simulations using a combined quantum and classical molecular dynamics [AIMD/molecular mechanical (MM)] approach. Both classes of simulations were performed with 64 solvating water molecules (∼15 ps) and used the same methods in the electronic structure calculation (plane-wave basis set, time steps, effective mass, etc.). In the AIMD/MM calculation, only six waters of hydration were included in the quantum mechanical (QM) region. The remaining 58 waters were treated with a published flexible water-water interaction potential. No reparametrization of the water-water potential was attempted. Additional AIMD/MM simulations were performed with 256 water molecules. The hydration structures predicted from the AIMD and AIMD/MM simulations are found to agree in detail with each other and with the structural results from x-ray data despite the very limited QM region in the AIMD/MM simulation. To further evaluate the agreement of these parameter-free simulations, predicted extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra were compared directly to the recently obtained EXAFS data and they agree in remarkable detail with the experimental observations. The first hydration shell contains six water molecules in a highly symmetric octahedral structure is (maximally located at 2.13–2.15 Å versus 2.072 Å EXAFS experiment). The widths of the peak of the simulated EXAFS spectra agree well with the data (8.4 Å2 versus 8.9 Å2 in experiment). Analysis of the H-bond structure of the hydration region shows that the second hydration shell is trigonally bound to the first shell water with a high degree of agreement between the AIMD and AIMD/MM calculations. Beyond the second shell, the bonding pattern returns to the tetrahedral structure of bulk water. The AIMD/MM results emphasize the importance of a quantum description of the first hydration shell to correctly describe the hydration region. In these calculations the full d10 electronic structure of the valence shell of the Zn2+ ion is retained. The simulations show substantial and complex charge relocation on both the Zn2+ ion and the first hydration shell. The dipole moment of the waters in the first hydration shell is 3.4 D (3.3 D AIMD/MM) versus 2.73 D bulk. Little polarization is found for the waters in the second hydration shell (2.8 D). No exchanges were seen between the first and the second hydrations shells; however, many water transfers between the second hydration shell and the bulk were observed. For 64 waters, the AIMD and AIMD/MM simulations give nearly identical results for exchange dynamics. However, in the larger particle simulations (256 waters) there is a significant reduction in the second shell to bulk exchanges.