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Title: Water properties under nano-scale confinement

Journal Article · · Scientific Reports
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [1]
  1. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Geochemistry Dept.
  2. New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM (United States). Dept. of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering
  3. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Applied Optical and Plasma Science Dept.

Water is the universal solvent and plays a critical role in all known geological and biological processes. Confining water in nano-scale domains, as encountered in sedimentary rocks, in biological, and in engineered systems, leads to the deviations in water’s physicochemical properties relative to those measured for the non-confined phase. In our comprehensive analysis, we demonstrate that nano-scale confinement leads to the decrease in the melting/freezing point temperature, density, and surface tension of confined water. With increasing degree of spatial confinement the population of networked water, as evidenced by alterations in the O-H stretching modes, increases. These analyses were performed on two groups of mesoporous silica materials, which allows to separate pore size effects from surface chemistry effects. The observed systematic effects of nano-scale confinement on the physical properties of water are driven by alterations to water’s hydrogen-bonding network—influenced by water interactions with the silica surface — and has implications for how we understand the chemical and physical properties of liquids confined in porous materials.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Chemical Sciences, Geosciences & Biosciences Division
Grant/Contract Number:
NA0003525
OSTI ID:
1619749
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1624473
Journal Information:
Scientific Reports, Vol. 9, Issue 1; ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (3)

Porous versus Dense ‐ Effect of Silica Coating on Contrast Enhancement of Iron Carbide Nanoparticles in T 2 ‐Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging journal January 2020
Equilibrium structures of water molecules confined within a multiply connected carbon nanotube: a molecular dynamics study journal January 2020
Interfacial reactions of Cu( ii ) adsorption and hydrolysis driven by nano-scale confinement journal January 2020