Chemistry in a Field
by
Cina Foroutan-Nejad
Measuring the bonding energies or scanning the potential energy surface (PES) of the charged
molecular systems in the presence of external electric field (EEF) requires a careful evaluation of
the origin–dependency of the energy of the system and references. Scanning the PES for charged
or purely ionic systems for obtaining the intrinsic energy barriers needs careful analysis of the
electric work applied on ions by the EEF. Meaning of the binding energy in the presence of EEF
is different from that in the absence of electric field as the binding energy is an anisotropic
characteristic which depends on the orientation of molecules with respect to the EEF. In this
contribution we discuss various aspects of PES in the EEF and the concept of binding energy in
the presence of EEF. In addition, we demonstrate that the anion–π bonding properties can be
modulated by applying the uniform EEF, which has a more pronounced effect on the larger,
more polarizable π–systems. We predict that understanding the phenomenon introduced in the
present account has an enormous potential, for example, for separating charged species on the
surface of polarizable two-dimensional materials such as graphene or the surface of carbon
nanotubes, in desalination of water.