PNNL

Abstract

Many-body interactions in liquid methanol and its liquid/vapor interface are evaluated using classical molecular dynamics techniques. The methanol molecule carries a molecular polarizability to account for induction energies and forces. The computed dipole moment for the methanol molecule changed from 1.7 D to 2.8 D, respectively from the vapor to the liquid phases. This result indicated that, there is significant many-body interactions in this complex molecular system. The computed average molecular dipole moment in liquid methanol at room temperature is in good agreement with experimental measurements. The computed average dipole moments of methanol molecules near the interface are close to their gas phase values, while methanol molecules far from the interface have dipole moments corresponding to their bulk values. The structural and thermodynamic properties of the liquid methanol as well as the surface tension of its liquid/vapor interface are in good agreement with the experiments, demonstrated high quality of our potential model and approaches.