We study the pressure-induced transformations between low-density amorphous (LDA) and high-density amorphous (HDA) ice by performing out-of-equilibrium molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. We employ the TIP4P/2005 water model and show that this model reproduces qualitatively the LDA-HDA transformations observed experimentally. Specifically, the TIP4P/2005 model reproduces remarkably well the (i) structure (OO, OH, and HH radial distribution functions) and (ii) densities of LDA and HDA at P = 0.1 MPa and T = 80 K, as well as (iii) the qualitative behavior of ρ(P) during compression-induced LDA-to-HDA and decompression-induced HDA-to-LDA transformations. At the rates explored, the HDA-to-LDA transformation is less pronounced than in experiments. By studying the LDA-HDA transformations for a broad range of compression/decompression temperatures, we construct a "P-T phase diagram" for glassy water that is consistent with experiments and remarkably similar to that reported previously for ST2 water. This phase diagram is not inconsistent with the possibility of TIP4P/2005 water exhibiting a liquid-liquid phase transition at low temperatures. A comparison with previous MD simulation studies of SPC/E and ST2 water as well as experiments indicates that, overall, the TIP4P/2005 model performs better than the SPC/E and ST2 models. The effects of cooling and compression rates as well as aging on our MD simulations results are also discussed. The MD results are qualitatively robust under variations of cooling/compression rates (accessible in simulations) and are not affected by aging the hyperquenched glass for at least 1 μs. A byproduct of this work is the calculation of TIP4P/2005 water's diffusion coefficient D(T) at P = 0.1 MPa. It is found that, for T ≥ 210 K, D(T) ≈ (T - T(MCT))(-γ) as predicted by mode coupling theory and in agreement with experiments. For TIP4P/2005 water, T(MCT) = 209 K and γ = 2.14, very close to the corresponding experimental values T(MCT) = 221 K and γ = 2.2.

We here study pressure-induced amorphization and polyamorphic transitions in frozen bulk glycerol–water solutions experimentally.

We perform molecular dynamics simulations of glycerol (propane-1,2,3-triol) at normal pressure and a wide range of temperatures (300-460 K) and study the sensitivity of simulation results to the force field (FF) considered. We employ five commonly used FFs: (i) AMBER, (ii) CHARMM22, and (iii) three versions of the OPLS-AA FF (OPLS1, OPLS2, and OPLS3). We study thermodynamic (density ρ(T), thermal expansion coefficient αP(T), isobaric specific heat cP(T)), dynamic (diffusion coefficient D(T)), as well as structural properties (molecular conformations and hydrogen-bond statistics). In comparison with experiments, FFs i and iii provide reasonable estimations of ρ(T) with deviations of ≤4.5%; for FF ii, deviations in density are more pronounced, ≤9%. Values of αP(T) vary considerably among the FFs; e.g., deviations are ≤9% for OPLS1-FF and ≤60% for FF ii. For all models studied, values of cP(T) are approximately twice the corresponding experimental values. Diffusion coefficients are very sensitive to the FFs considered. Specifically, for FFs i and ii and OPLS3, the values of D(T) are remarkably close to the experimental values over the whole range of temperatures studied. Instead, in the cases of OPLS1 and OPLS2-FFs, D(T) is underestimated by approximately 2 orders of magnitude. Interestingly, in all cases, D(T) can be well described by a Vogel-Tamman-Fulcher equation, as observed in experiments. We present a detailed characterization of glycerol backbone conformation based on the traditional classification introduced by Bastiansen, defined in terms of glycerol's OCCC dihedral angles. All FFs indicate that the conformer population varies smoothly with temperature. However, the FFs provide very different conformer distributions. This implies that, from the microscopic point of view, these glycerol models may provide very different liquid environments for, for example, guest biomolecules and hence may play a relevant role in interpreting simulation results involving glycerol-based solutions. We also discuss the statistics of inter- and intramolecular hydrogen bonds (HBs). The FFs are qualitatively comparable regarding HB statistics; however, quantitative differences remain. For example, molecules form a total of 5.5-7 HBs at T = 350 K, depending on the FF considered, including at least one intramolecular HB.

Computer simulations of glassy water–glycerol mixtures: molecular structure and density during the pressure-induced amorphous–amorphous (LDA–HDA) transformation.

Glycerol-water solutions are relevant in technological and scientific applications, such as in the preservation of biomolecules and tissues at low temperatures. We perform molecular dynamics simulations of glycerol-water mixtures with glycerol molar fractions of χg = 0-100% at P = 0.1 MPa and T = 210-460 K. We focus on the effects of temperature and concentration on the thermodynamic (density ρ, thermal expansion coefficient αP, isobaric specific heat cP, compressibility κT) and dynamical (glycerol and water diffusion coefficients, Dg and Dw) properties of the mixtures. In particular, we test the sensitivity of computer simulation results to the glycerol force field and water model (TIP3P and TIP4P/2005) employed. All mixture models underestimate ρ at high T and tend to overestimate ρ at low T; only the mixture model based on TIP4P/2005 water exhibits a density maximum at low χg, as expected. All models overestimate αP, cP, and κT; they are able to reproduce qualitatively the T dependence of αP and κT but fail in the case of cP. In all cases, Dg and Dw follow the Vogel-Tamman-Fulcher equation and decouple at low T, with Dw/Dg increasing upon cooling. Overall, the mixture based on TIP4P/2005 water provides better thermodynamic and dynamical properties than the mixtures based on TIP3P water, even at χg = 20%.