The borohydride ion, BH4-, is an essential reducing agent in many technological processes, yet its full understanding has been elusive, because of at least two significant challenges. One challenge arises from its marginal stability in aqueous solutions outside of basic pH conditions, which considerably limits the experimental thermodynamic data. The other challenge comes from its unique and atypical hydration shell, stemming from the negative excess charge on its hydrogen atoms, which complicates the accurate modeling in classical atomistic simulations. In this study, we combine experimental and computer simulation techniques to devise a classical force field for NaBH4 and deepen our understanding of its characteristics. We report the first measurement of the ion's activity coefficient and extrapolate it to neutral pH conditions. Given the difficulties in directly measuring its solvation free energies, owing to its instability, we resort to quantum chemistry calculations. This combined strategy allows us to derive a set of nonpolarizable force-field parameters for the borohydride ion for classical molecular dynamics simulations. The derived force field simultaneously captures the solvation free energy, the hydration structure, as well as the activity coefficient of NaBH4 salt across a broad concentration range. The obtained insights into the hydration shell of the BH4- ion are crucial for accurately modeling and understanding its interactions with other molecules, ions, materials, and interfaces.

Applied Theoretical Physics Computational Physics Physikalisches Institut Albert Ludwigs Universität Freiburg Hermann Herder Str 3 D 79104 Freiburg Germany

Department of Physical Chemistry University of Chemistry and Technology Prague Technická 5 16628 Prague 6 Czech Republic

Institute of Fundamental and Applied Research National Research University TIIAME Kori Niyoziy 39 100000 Tashkent Uzbekistan

Institute of Material Science of AS Ch Aytmatov str 2B 100084 Tashkent Uzbekistan

Jožef Stefan Institute Jamova 39 1000 Ljubljana Slovenia

School of Engineering Akfa University Milliy Bog Street 264 111221 Tashkent Uzbekistan

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