Surface tension of the most popular models of water by using the test-area simulation method

Abstract

We consider the calculation of the surface tension from simulations of several models of water, such as the traditional TIP3P, SPC, SPC/E, and TIP4P models, and the new generation of TIP4P-like models including the TIP4P/Ew, TIP4P/Ice, and TIP4P/2005. We employ a thermodynamic route proposed by Gloor et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 123, 134703 (2005)] to determine the surface tension that involves the estimate of the change in free energy associated with a small change in the interfacial area at constant volume. The values of the surface tension computed from this test-area method are found to be fully consistent with those obtained from the standard mechanical route, which is based on the evaluation of the components of the pressure tensor. We find that most models do not reproduce quantitatively the experimental values of the surface tension of water. The best description of the surface tension is given by those models that provide a better description of the vapor-liquid coexistence curve. The values of the surface tension for the SPC/E and TIP4P/Ew models are found to be in reasonably good agreement with the experimental values. From the present investigation, we conclude that the TIP4P/2005 model is able to accurately describe the surface tension of water over the whole range of temperatures from the triple point to the critical temperature. We also conclude that the test area is an appropriate methodological choice for the calculation of the surface tension not only for simple fluids, but also for complex molecular polar fluids, as is the case of water.