Effect of an external electric field on liquid water using molecular dynamics simulation with a flexible potential

Recent Advances in Encapsulation of Flexible Bioelectronic Implants: Materials, Technologies, and Characterization Methods

Bioelectronic implantable systems (BIS) targeting biomedical and clinical research should combine long-term performance and biointegration in vivo. Here, recent advances in novel encapsulations to protect flexible versions of such systems from the surrounding biological environment are reviewed, focusing on material strategies and synthesis techniques. Considerable effort is put on thin-film encapsulation (TFE), and specifically organic-inorganic multilayer architectures as a flexible and conformal alternative to conventional rigid cans. TFE is in direct contact with the biological medium and thus must exhibit not only biocompatibility, inertness, and hermeticity but also mechanical robustness, conformability, and compatibility with the manufacturing of microfabricated devices. Quantitative characterization methods of the barrier and mechanical performance of the TFE are reviewed with a particular emphasis on water-vapor transmission rate through electrical, optical, or electrochemical principles. The integrability and functionalization of TFE into functional bioelectronic interfaces are also discussed. TFE represents a must-have component for the next-generation bioelectronic implants with diagnostic or therapeutic functions in human healthcare and precision medicine.

Thermodynamic Investigation of the Effect of Electric Field on Solid-Liquid Equilibrium

In this study, the thermal, mechanical, and chemical equilibrium conditions are derived for binary solid-liquid equilibrium under the effect of an electric field. As an example, the effect of an electric field on the water/glycerol solid-liquid phase diagram is computed over the complete mole fraction range. We show that the application of an electric field can affect the composition dependent freezing and precipitating processes, changing freezing and precipitating temperatures and changing the eutectic point temperature and mole fraction.

Kinetic study on electro-nucleation of water in a heterogeneous propane nano-bubble system to form polycrystalline ice Ic

Elucidating the underlying mechanisms of water solidification in heterogeneous systems is crucially important for a panoply of applications; gaining such an understanding has also proven to be very challenging to the community. Indeed, one such example lies in clarifying the thermodynamics and kinetics of electro-crystallization in heterogeneous systems, such as micro- and nano-bubble systems. Here, we employ non-equilibrium molecular dynamics of water in heterogeneous environments experiencing direct contact with a propane gas phase at various temperatures in externally applied static electric fields, elucidating significant external-field effects in inducing poly-crystalline cubic-ice formation. This is in stark contrast with recent work on homogeneous cubic-ice electro-nucleation to produce largely fault-free single crystals. We explore the kinetics of heterogeneous cubic-ice electro-nucleation under different field intensities and thermal conditions and provide an overview of time-dependent dynamics of evolution of polycrystallinity.

Supercooling preservation technology in food and biological samples: a review focused on electric and magnetic field applications

Freezing has been widely recognized as the most common process for long-term preservation of perishable foods; however, unavoidable damages associated with ice crystal formation lead to unacceptable quality losses during storage. As an alternative, supercooling preservation has a great potential to extend the shelf-life and maintain quality attributes of fresh foods without freezing damage. Investigations for the application of external electric field (EF) and magnetic field (MF) have theorized that EF and MF appear to be able to control ice nucleation by interacting with water molecules in foods and biomaterials; however, many questions remain open in terms of their roles and influences on ice nucleation with little consensus in the literature and a lack of clear understanding of the underlying mechanisms. This review is focused on understanding of ice nucleation processes and introducing the applications of EF and MF for preservation of food and biological materials.

Effect of Electric Field on Gas Hydrate Nucleation Kinetics: Evidence for the Enhanced Kinetics of Hydrate Nucleation by Negatively Charged Clay Surfaces

Natural gas hydrates are found widely in oceanic clay-rich sediments, where clay-water interactions have a profound effect on the formation behavior of gas hydrates. However, it remains unclear why and how natural gas hydrates are formed in clay-rich sediments in spite of factors that limit gas hydrate formation, such as small pore size and high salinity. Herein, we show that polarized water molecules on clay surfaces clearly promote gas hydrate nucleation kinetics. When water molecules were polarized with an electric field of 10⁴ V/m, gas hydrate nucleation occurred significantly faster with an induction time reduced by 5.8 times. Further, the presence of strongly polarized water layers at the water-gas interface hindered gas uptake and thus hydrate formation, when the electric field was applied prior to gas dissolution. Our findings expand our understanding of the formation habits of naturally occurring gas hydrates in clay-rich sedimentary deposits and provide insights into gas production from natural hydrate deposits.

Enhanced translational diffusion of confined water under electric field

High resolution quasielastic neutron scattering measurements have been used to study the effects of applied electric field on the dynamics of water molecules confined in the pores of folded silica sheet material FSM-12 with an average pore diameter (apd) of 16 Å. In the absence of field, there is a significant slowing down of the water molecule diffusion as the temperature is lowered, in agreement with previous observations. The application of a moderate electric field of 2.5 kV/mm remarkably enhances the translational diffusion of water molecules. We interpret this as being due to a disruption of the hydrogen bonding by the electric field. This new observation suggests that existing theories valid at large electric field strengths may have to be corrected at moderate fields.