Molecular modeling of silicate fluids in alkali media ; Modélisation moléculaire de solutions silicatées en milieux alcalins

My thesis focused on the molecular modeling of alkaline silicate solutions. The originality of our approach is the use of classical molecular dynamics, which is suited to study equilibrium properties, to reactive systems. The aim of this work is to understand ion-ion interactions in of such electrolyte solutions. To this end, polarizable force fields have been developed to describe the solvation properties of the hydroxide anion and the silicate oligomers.First, the structural and thermodynamics properties of concentrated aqueous solutions of alkali hydroxide MOH (M+ = Li+, Na+, K+, and Cs+) have been studied over a wide range of concentrations. Theoretical WAXS intensities calculated from our simulations are in good agreement with the experimental data. In addition, we pointed out a weak association of the MOH ion pairs, even at high concentrations. This was confirmed by the calculations of the association constants of ion pairs (KMOH = 0.1 L mol-1) which are in good agreement with the data available in the literature. Further- more, based on the McMillan-Mayer potentials calculated from the molecular dynamics simulations, Monte Carlo simulations have been performed to calculate the osmotic coefficients of MOH solutions.Then, we focused on the structural properties of alkaline solutions containing silicate oligomers, typically monomers (Si(OH)4, SiO(OH)-) and dimers (Si2O2(OH)5-, Si2O3(OH)42-). Thus, we first developed an "universal" force field allowing for describing a large number of silicate oligomers. These simulations highlighted a Na+ adsorption dependent on the silicate speciation and a low interaction between the hydroxide anions and the silicates.Finally, by taking into account the connectivity of silicon atoms (determined by 29Si NMR) and the average oligomer radius (determined by X-ray scattering measurements), we have simulated the behaviour of "real" experimental solutions, and we have explained the influence of the alkali’s nature on the structural and dynamical properties. ; Ma thèse porte sur ...