Non-monotonic dependence of water reorientation dynamics on surface hydrophilicity: competing effects of the hydration structure and hydrogen-bond strength

The reorientation dynamics of interfacial water molecules was recently shown to change non-monotonically next to surfaces of increasing hydrophilicity, with slower dynamics next to strongly hydrophobic (apolar) and very hydrophilic surfaces, and faster dynamics next to surfaces of intermediate hydrophilicities. Through a combination of molecular dynamics simulations and analytic modeling, we provide a molecular interpretation of this behavior. We show that this non-monotonic dependence arises from two competing effects induced by the increasing surface hydrophilicity: first a change in the hydration structure with an enhanced population of water OH bonds pointing toward the surface and second a strengthening of the water–surface interaction energy. The extended jump model, including the effects due to transition-state excluded volume and transition-state hydrogen-bond strength, provides a quasi-quantitative description of the non-monotonic changes in the water reorientation dynamics with surface hydrophilicity.