Supercooled solutions of sodium perchlorate in TIP4P/2005 water: The effect of martian solutes on thermodynamics and structure

Abstract

We study the thermodynamic behavior of sodium perchlorate solutions in supercooled water through molecular dynamics numerical simulations. These solutions are of special interest because of the recent experimental results that led to hypothesize the presence of liquid water in perchlorate solutions beneath the Martian soil. We model water using the TIP4P/2005 potential. The results we obtain for solutions with concentrations 1.63 and 15.4 wt% are in agreement with those of a system undergoing a liquid–liquid phase transition where the liquid–liquid critical point shifts to slightly higher temperatures and lower pressures. The structure of the system is also analyzed, and we come to the conclusion that, even at the highest concentration considered, water retains its anomalous behavior.