Investigation of liquor microstructure (ethanol-water clusters): Molecular dynamics simulation and density functional theory

Ethanol and water are the primary components of liquor. In this study, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and density functional theory (DFT) were used to model ethanol-water clusters and infer possible structures of ethanol-water solutions. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and density of states analysis were employed to confirm the existence of clusters and further describe their properties. By comparing binding energies and calculating coordination numbers, we found that the ethanol-water solution with a molecular ratio of 1:2 forms three stable clusters. Under ideal conditions, the cluster ratio is approximately 1:1:6. Generally, the clusters undergo continuous splitting and recombination.