Investigation of the adsorption mechanism of water nanocluster on the substrate: The size and interaction strength effect

Molecular dynamics simulation is utilized to investigate the effects of both the size of a water nanocluster and the interaction strength between the water nanocluster and a solid surface on the dynamic behavior of the water nanocluster when it is adsorbed on a solid surface. The simulation results demonstrate that both the size and the interaction strength influence the adsorption behavior of the water nanocluster on the substrate. When the interaction strength between water molecules and the substrate is strong, the morphology of the water nanocluster adsorbed on the substrate will tend to be flatter in shape. However, when the interaction strength is weak, the morphology of the water nanocluster is a semi-spherical shape. The size of the water nanocluster causes the water molecules in the first layer to lay flatter on the substrate at stronger interaction strengths. As the interaction strengths exceed 1.5 kcal mol−1, the value of orientation factor will reverse its trend for water nanoclusters with different sizes, with the smaller water nanocluster having the smallest orientation factor.