Polar-solvation classical density-functional theory for electrolyte aqueous solutions near a wall.

A precise description of the structural and dielectric properties of liquid water is critical to understanding the physicochemical properties of solutes in electrolyte solutions. In this article, a mixture of ionic and dipolar hard spheres is considered to account for water crowding and polarization effects on ionic electrical double layers near a uniformly charged hard wall. As a unique feature, solvent hard spheres carrying a dipole at their centers were used to model water molecules at experimentally known concentration, molecule size, and dipolar moment. The equilibrium ionic and dipole density profiles of this electrolyte aqueous model were calculated using a polar-solvation classical density-functional theory (PSCDFT). These profiles were used to calculate the charge density distribution, water polarization, dielectric permittivity function, and mean electric potential profiles as well as differential capacitance, excess adsorptions, and wall-fluid surface tension. These results were compared with those corresponding to the pure dipolar model and unpolar primitive solvent model of electrolyte aqueous solutions to understand the role that water crowding and polarization effects play on the structural and thermodynamic properties of these systems. Overall, PSCDFT predictions are in agreement with available experimental data.