Lennard-Jones Parameters Determined to Reproduce the Solubility of ions

Most classical nonpolarizable ion potential models underestimate the solubility values of NaCl and KCl in water significantly. We determine Lennard-Jones parameters of Na+, K+, and Cl- that reproduce the solubility as well as the hydration free energy in dilute aqueous solutions for three water potential models, SPC/E, TIP3P, and TIP4P/2005. The ion–oxygen distance in the solution and the cation–anion distance in salt are also considered in the parametrization. In addition to the target properties, the hydration enthalpy, hydration entropy, self-diffusion coefficient, coordination number, lattice energy, enthalpy of solution, density, viscosity, and number of contact ion pairs are calculated for comparison with 17 frequently used or recently developed ion potential models.