Primitive Modeling

Figure A2.3.16. Theoretical HNC osmotic coefTicients for a range of ion size parameters in the primitive model compared with experimental data for the osmotic coefficients of several 1-1 electrolytes at 25°C. The curves are labelled according to the assumed value of a+- = r+ + r-...

Orkoulas G and Panagiotopoulos A Z 1999 Phase behavior of the restricted primitive model and square-well fluids from Monte Carlo simulations in the grand canonical ensemble J. Chem. Phys. 110 1581... 

Camp P J and Patey G N 1999 Ion association and condensation in primitive models of electrolytes J. Chem. Phys. 

Rasaiah J C, Card D N and Valleau J 1972 Calculations on the restricted primitive model for 1-1-electrolyte solutions J. Chem. Phys. 56 248... 

Rasaiah J C 1970 Equilibrium properties of ionic solutions the primitive model and its modification for aqueous solutions of the alkali halides at 25°C J. Chem. Phys. 52 704... 

Valleau J P and Cohen L K 1980 Primitive model electrolytes. I. Grand canonical Monte Carlo computations J. Chem. Phys. 72 5932... 

Gillan M 1980 Upper bound on the free energy of the restricted primitive model for ionic liquids Mol. Phys. 41 75... 

The simplest extension to the DH equation that does at least allow the qualitative trends at higher concentrations to be examined is to treat the excluded volume rationally. This model, in which the ion of charge z-Cq is given an ionic radius d- is temied the primitive model. If we assume an essentially spherical equation for the u. . 

Using the Omstein-Zemicke equation, numerical solutions for the restricted primitive model can be. 

In principle, simulation teclmiques can be used, and Monte Carlo simulations of the primitive model of electrolyte solutions have appeared since the 1960s. Results for the osmotic coefficients are given for comparison in table A2.4.4 together with results from the MSA, PY and HNC approaches. The primitive model is clearly deficient for values of r. close to the closest distance of approach of the ions. Many years ago, Gurney [H] noted that when two ions are close enough together for their solvation sheaths to overlap, some solvent molecules become freed from ionic attraction and are effectively returned to the bulk [12]. 

More sophisticated approaches to describe double layer interactions have been developed more recently. Using cell models, the full Poisson-Boltzmann equation can be solved for ordered stmctures. The approach by Alexander et al shows how the effective colloidal particle charge saturates when the bare particle charge is increased [4o]. Using integral equation methods, the behaviour of the primitive model has been studied, in which all the interactions between the colloidal macro-ions and the small ions are addressed (see, for instance, [44, 45]). 

Mobile CA. These arc CA in which some (or all) lattice sites are free to move about the lattice. In effect, mobile CA are primitive models of mobile robots. Typically, their internal state space reflects some features of the local environment within which they are allowed to move and with which they are allowed to interact. An example of mobile CA used to model some aspects of military engagements is discussed in Chapter 12. 

The simplest way to treat the solvent molecules of an electrolyte explicitly is to represent them as hard spheres, whereas the electrostatic contribution of the solvent is expressed implicitly by a uniform dielectric medium in which charged hard-sphere ions interact. A schematic representation is shown in Figure 2(a) for the case of an idealized situation in which the cations, anions, and solvent have the same diameters. This is the solvent primitive model (SPM), first named by Davis and coworkers [15,16] but appearing earlier in other studies [17]. As shown in Figure 2(b), the interaction potential of a pair of particles (ions or solvent molecule), i and j, in the SPM are ... 

FIG. 2 (a) Solvent primitive model, with charged hard spheres representing the ions, neutral hard... 

The popular and well-studied primitive model is a degenerate case of the SPM with = 0, shown schematically in Figure (c). The restricted primitive model (RPM) refers to the case when the ions are of equal diameter. This model can realistically represent the packing of a molten salt in which no solvent is present. For an aqueous electrolyte, the primitive model does not treat the solvent molecules exphcitly and the number density of the electrolyte is umealistically low. For modeling nano-surface interactions, short-range interactions are important and the primitive model is expected not to give adequate account of confinement effects. For its simphcity, however, many theories [18-22] and simulation studies [23-25] have been made based on the primitive model for the bulk electrolyte. Ap-phcations to electrolyte interfaces have also been widely reported [26-30]. 

A possible reason that the problem of C < 0 did not receive much attention was the assertion [15] (BLH) that such an anomaly was forbidden. The proof was based on the statistical mechanical analysis of the primitive model of electrolytes between two oppositely charged planes, cr and —a. It was noticed in Ref. 10 that the BLH analysis missed a very simple contribution to the Hamiltonian, direct interaction between the charged walls, ItzLct (L is the distance between the walls). With proper choice of the Hamiltonian the condition on the capacitance would be C > 27re/L. It simply means that due to ionic shielding of the electric field, the capacitance exceeded its geometrical value corresponding to the electrolyte-free dielectric gap. 

The hole correction of the electrostatic energy is a nonlocal mechanism just like the excluded volume effect in the GvdW theory of simple fluids. We shall now consider the charge density around a hard sphere ion in an electrolyte solution still represented in the symmetrical primitive model. In order to account for this fact in the simplest way we shall assume that the charge density p,(r) around an ion of type i maintains its simple exponential form as obtained in the usual Debye-Hiickel theory, i.e.,... 

Figure 5.15. Diagrams representing a primitive model of spin-orbit coupling.

Yan, Q.L. de Pablo, J.J., Hyper-parallel tempering Monte Carlo Application to the Lennard-Jones fluid and the restricted primitive model, J. Chem. Phys. 1999, 111, 9509-9516... 

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