Ab initio molecular dynamics study of polarization effects on ionic hydration in aqueous AlCl3 solution

The solvation shell structure and dynamics of Al3+ and Cl− in an aqueous solution of 0.8 M AlCl3 are studied under ambient conditions by using an ab initio molecular dynamics method. The solvation structures obtained from our ab initio simulations are in good agreement with the experimental ones for both Al3+ and Cl−. A detailed analysis of intramolecular geometry of hydration waters and dipole moments of the ingredients shows that the polarization has substantial effects on the structures and dynamics of both the cation and anion hydration shells. Implications for metal hydrolysis of Al3+ will also be given.