Anisotropic and Finite Effects on Intermolecular Vibration and Relaxation Dynamics: Low-Frequency Raman Spectroscopy of Water Film and Droplet on Graphene by Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Abstract

The structural and dynamical properties of water can be greatly altered by the anisotropic interfacial environment. Here, we study the intermolecular vibration and relaxation dynamics of a water film and a water droplet on a graphene surface based on low-frequency Raman spectra calculated from molecular dynamics simulations. The calculated Raman spectra of the interfacial water systems show a weakened libration peak and an enhanced intermolecular hydrogen bond (HB) stretching peak compared to the spectrum of bulk water, which are attributed to softened orientation motion. We also find that the collective polarizability relaxation in the droplet is much slower than that in the film and bulk, which is completely different from the collective dipole relaxation. The slow relaxation is due to a positive correlation between the induced polarizabilities of distinct molecules caused by the global and anisotropic structural fluctuations of the water droplet. Furthermore, we find that the two-dimensional HB network by the orientation-ordered interfacial water molecules leads to different intermolecular vibration dynamics between the parallel and perpendicular components. The present theoretical study demonstrates that low-frequency Raman spectroscopy can reveal the anisotropic and finite effects on the intermolecular dynamics of the water film and droplet.