Ab initio molecular dynamics study on energy relaxation path of hydrogen-bonded OH vibration in bulk water

The vibrational energy relaxation paths of hydrogen-bonded (H-bonded) OH excited in pure water and in isotopically diluted (deuterated) water are elucidated via non-equilibrium ab initio molecular dynamics (NE-AIMD) simulations. The present study extends the previous NE-AIMD simulation for the energy relaxation of an excited free OH vibration at an air/water interface [T. Ishiyama, J. Chem. Phys. 154, 104708 (2021)] to the energy relaxation of an excited H-bonded OH vibration in bulk water. The present simulation shows that the excited OH vibration in pure water dissipates its energy on a timescale of 0.1 ps, whereas that in deuterated water relaxes on a timescale of 0.7 ps, consistent with the experimental observations. To decompose these relaxation energies into the components due to intramolecular and intermolecular couplings, constraints are introduced on the vibrational modes except for the target path in the NE-AIMD simulation. In the case of pure water, 80% of the total relaxation is attributed to the pathway due to the resonant intermolecular OHOH stretch coupling, and the remaining 17% and 3% are attributed to intramolecular couplings with the bend overtone and with the conjugate OH stretch, respectively. This result strongly supports a significant role for the Forster transfer mechanism of pure water due to the intermolecular dipole-dipole interactions. In the case of deuterated water, on the other hand, 36% of the total relaxation is due to the intermolecular stretch coupling, and all the remaining 64% arises from coupling with the intramolecular bend overtone.

Automated summary

The vibrational energy relaxation paths of hydrogen-bonded OH excited in pure water and deuterated water were elucidated through non-equilibrium ab initio molecular dynamics (NE-AIMD) simulations. The simulation showed that the relaxation of excited OH vibration in pure water occurs quickly, while in deuterated water, it relaxes on a longer timescale, consistent with experimental observations. The decomposition of relaxation energies into intramolecular and intermolecular couplings revealed different pathways for relaxation in pure water compared to deuterated water.