Are hydrodynamic interactions important in the kinetics of hydrophobic collapse?

TL;DR

This study investigates how hydrodynamic interactions influence the assembly kinetics of hydrophobic plates, revealing that molecular-scale hydrodynamics are crucial despite slow solvent fluctuations, with findings supported by molecular and Brownian dynamics simulations.

Contribution

It demonstrates the importance of molecular-scale hydrodynamic interactions in hydrophobic assembly kinetics, contrasting with previous assumptions that neglected these effects.

Findings

Hydrodynamic interactions significantly affect assembly times.

Brownian dynamics agrees with molecular dynamics despite slow solvent fluctuations.

Slow solvent fluctuations can be due to drying or confinement.

Abstract

We study the kinetics of assembly of two plates of varying hydrophobicity, including cases where drying occurs and water strongly solvates the plate surfaces. The potential of mean force and molecular-scale hydrodynamics are computed from molecular dynamics simulations in explicit solvent as a function of particle separation. In agreement with our recent work on nanospheres [J. Phys. Chem. B 116, 378 (2012)] regions of high friction are found to be engendered by large and slow solvent fluctuations. These slow fluctuations can be due to either drying or confinement. The mean first passage times for assembly are computed by means of molecular dynamics simulations in explicit solvent and by Brownian dynamics simulations along the reaction path. Brownian dynamics makes use of the potential of mean force and hydrodynamic profile that we determined. Surprisingly, we find reasonable agreement between full scale molecular dynamics and Brownian dynamics, despite the role of slow solvent relaxation in the assembly process. We found that molecular scale hydrodynamic interactions are essential in describing the kinetics of assembly.