Two-Step Recrystallization of Water in Concentrated Aqueous Solution of Poly(ethylene glycol)

Triplet dynamic nuclear polarization of crystalline ice using water-soluble polarizing agents

The first example of triplet dynamic nuclear polarization of crystalline ice is demonstrated by developing a water-soluble triplet polarizing agent.

How Molecular Crowding Differs from Macromolecular Crowding: A Femtosecond Mid-Infrared Pump-Probe Study

Crowding is an inherent property of living systems in which biochemical processes occur in highly concentrated solutions of various finite-sized species of both low (molecular crowding) and high (macromolecular crowding) molecular weights. Is molecular crowding fundamentally different from macromolecular crowding? To answer this question, we use a femtosecond mid-infrared pump-probe technique with three vibrational probes in molecular (diethylene glycol) and macromolecular (polyethylene glycol) solutions. In less crowded media, both molecular and macromolecular crowders fail to affect the dynamics of interstitial bulk-like water molecules and those at the crowder/water interface. In highly crowded media, interstitial water dynamics strongly depends on molecular crowding, but macromolecular crowding does not alter the bulk-like hydration dynamics and has a modest crowding effect on water at the crowder/water interface. The results of this study provide a molecular level understanding of the structural and dynamic changes to water and the water-mediated cross-linking of crowders.

Anti-icing agent releasing diatomaceous earth/SBS composites

Anti-icing agent release from diatomaceous earth/SBS composites increases the freezing time of water droplets on the surface.

Mid-infrared spectroscopic investigation of the perfect vitrification of poly(ethylene glycol) aqueous solutions

Crystallization/recrystallization behaviors of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) aqueous solutions with water contents (WC's) of ∼36-51 wt % were investigated by temperature-variable mid-infrared spectroscopy. At a WC of 43.2 wt %, crystallization and recrystallization of water and PEG were not observed. At this specific WC value (WCPV), perfect vitrification occurred. Below and above the WCPV value, crystallization/recrystallization behaviors changed drastically. The crystallization temperature below WCPV (237 K) was ∼10 K greater than that above WCPV (226 K). Recrystallization above and below WCPV occurred in one (213 K) and two (198 and 210 K) steps, respectively. These findings resulted from the difference in the (re)crystallization behaviors of water molecules associated with PEG chains with helical and random-coil conformations. These two types of water molecules might have limiting concentrations for their (re)crystallization, indicating that perfect vitrification might have occurred when the concentrations of the two types of water molecules were less than the limiting concentrations of their (re)crystallization.