Simulations of interfacial processes: recent advances in force field development

Interfacial systems are ubiquitous and important to myriad processes of interest such as protein-protein interactions and catalysis of reactions. Investigating interfacial systems at the molecular level presents unique challenges to both experiments and molecular simulations. The challenges in molecular simulations of interfacial systems range from scalability of quantum simulations to transferability of empirical force fields in classical simulations. In this article, we focus on the advances in force field development to study interfacial systems using protein-surface interactions and heterogeneous catalysis as case studies. We also discuss the emerging role of machine learning in force field development. We conclude by providing our perspective on accelerating the progress in force field development through concerted efforts for data collection and standardization of parameter fitting protocols for extending the force fields to new interfacial systems.