Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were conducted to compare the performance of four force fields in predicting thermophysical properties of tri-n-butyl-phosphate (TBP) in the liquid phase. The intramolecular force parameters used were from the Assisted Model Building with Energy Refinement (AMBER) force field model. The van der Waals parameters were based on either the AMBER or the Optimized Potential for Liquid Simulation (OPLS) force fields. The atomic partial charges were either assigned by performing quantum chemistry calculations or utilized previously published data, and were scaled to approximate the average experimental value of the electric dipole moment. Canonical ensemble computations based on the aforementioned parameters were performed near atmospheric pressure and temperature to obtain the electric dipole moment, mass density, and self-diffusion coefficient. In addition, the microscopic structure of the liquid was characterized via pair correlation functions between selected atoms. It has been demonstrated that the electric dipole moment can be approximated within 1% of the average experimental value by virtue of scaled atomic partial charges. The liquid mass density can be predicted within 0.5-1% of its experimentally determined value when using the corresponding charge scaling. However, in all cases, the predicted self-diffusion coefficient is significantly smaller than a commonly quoted experimental measurement; this result is qualified by the fact that the uncertainty of the experimental value was not available.

Atomistic simulations have been carried out in a multicomponent two-phase system (aqueous and organic phases in direct contact) to investigate the interfacial molecular mechanisms leading to uranyl extraction from the aqueous to organic phase. The aqueous phase consists of the dissolved ions UO2(2+) and nitrate NO3-, with or without H3O+, in water to describe acidic or neutral condition; the organic phase consists of tributyl phosphate, the extractant, in dodecane as the diluent. We find that the interface facilitates the formation of various uranyl complexes, with a general formula UO2(2+)(NO3-)n *mTBP*kH2O, with n+m+k=5, suggesting a 5-fold coordination. The coordination for all three molecular entities has the common feature that they all bind to the uranyl at the uranium atom with an oxygen atom in the equatorial plane perpendicular to the molecular axis of the uranyl, forming a 5-fold symmetry plane. Nitric acid has a strong effect in enhancing the formation of extractable species, which is consistent with experimental findings.

A comprehensive molecular dynamics simulation study of n-alkanes using the optimized potential for liquid simulation with all-atoms (OPLS-AA) force field at ambient condition has been performed. Our results indicate that while simulations with the OPLS-AA force field accurately predict the liquid state mass density for n-alkanes with carbon number equal or less than 10, for n-alkanes with carbon number equal or exceeding 12, the OPLS-AA force field with the standard scaling factor for the 1-4 intramolecular Van der Waals and electrostatic interaction gives rise to a quasi-crystalline structure. We found that accurate predictions of the liquid state properties are obtained by successively reducing the aforementioned scaling factor for each increase of the carbon number beyond n-dodecane. To better understand the effects of reducing the scaling factor, its influence on the torsion potential profile, and the corresponding gauche-trans conformer distribution, heat of vaporization, melting point, and self-diffusion coefficient for n-dodecane were investigated. This relatively simple procedure enables more accurate predictions of the thermo-physical properties of longer n-alkanes.

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