There were two species of silica that can be identified in this system through following reaction paths and exploring the PES. Again and as expected, orthosilicic acid is one of them. The other species is H3SiO4 -that is charge balanced by a hydronium ion (H3O + ) with a water molecule in between them, denoted by H3O + •H2O•H3SiO4 -, where the dot • refers to hydrogen bonding. The two hydrogen bonds are from 1.4A to 1.7A in length. This structural configuration would be referred to as "dipolar complex I", from hereon.