Force field for halide and alkali ions in water based on single-ion and ion-pair thermodynamic properties for a wide range of concentrations

A classical non-polarizable force field for the common halide (F⁻ , Cl_⁻ , Br⁻ , I⁻) and alkali (Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Cs⁺) ions in SPC/E water is presented. This is an extension of the force field developed by Loche et al. for Na⁺, K⁺, Cl⁻, Br⁻ (JPCB 125, 8581-8587, 2021): in the present work we additionally optimize Lennard-Jones parameters for Li⁺, I⁻, Cs⁺ and F⁻ ions. Li⁺ and F⁻ are particularly challenging ions to model due to their small size. The force field is optimized with respect to experimental solvation free energies and activity coefficients, which are the necessary and sufficient quantities to accurately reproduce the electrolyte thermodynamics. Good agreement with experimental reference data is achieved for a wide range of concentrations (up to 4 mol/L). We find that standard Lorentz-Berthelot combination rules are sufficient for all ions except F⁻, for which modified combination rules are necessary. With the optimized parameters, we show that, although the force field is only optimized based on thermodynamic properties, structural properties are reproduced quantitatively, while ion diffusion coefficients are in qualitative agreement with experimental values.