Screened Coulombic Orientational Correlations in Dilute Aqueous Electrolytes

International audienceThe ion-induced long-range orientational order between water molecules recently observed in second harmonic scattering experiments and illustrated with large scale molecular dynamics simulations is quantitatively explained using the Ornstein–Zernike integral equation approach of liquid physics. This general effect, not specific to hydrogen-bonding solvents, is controlled by electroneutrality conditions, dipolar interactions, and dielectric+ionic screening. As expected, all numerical theories recover the well-known analytical expressions established 40 years ago