Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Despite the ubiquity of aqueous electrolytes, the effect of salt on water organization remains controversial. We introduce a nonlocal and nonlinear field theory for the nanoscale polarization of ions and water and derive the electrolyte dielectric response as a function of salt concentration to first order in a loop expansion. By comparison with molecular dynamics simulations, we show that rising salt concentration induces a dielectric permittivity decrement and Debye screening in the longitudinal susceptibility but leaves the water structure remarkably unchanged.
Source: Physical Review Letters
Language: English
Subfield: Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
Field: Chemistry
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
OpenAlex ID: W4409430709