Dielectric relaxation of water and heavy water in the whole fluid phase

Rapidly Screening the Correlation between the Rotational Mobility and the Hydrogen Bonding Strength of Confined Water

Automated Deuterium Relaxation-Ordered SpectroscopY in solution (ADROSYS), an automated two-dimensional deuterium NMR methodology, discriminates between D2O populations (as well as deuterium-labeled alcohol groups) whose properties differ as a result of being confined inside nanoscale volumes. In this contribution, a proof-of-principle demonstration on reverse micelles (RMs) yields the insight that as the length scale of the confinement decreases from several nanometers down to less than a nanometer, the position of the signal peak migrates through the two-dimensional (2D) spectrum, tracing out a distinctive path in the 2D space (of relaxation time vs chemical shift). The signals typically follow a relatively gentle linear path for water confined on the scale of several nanometers, before curving once the surfactants confine the water molecules to length scales smaller than 1-2 nm. The qualitative shape of this path, especially in the regime of strong confinement, can change with different choices of surfactants, i.e., a different choice of chemistry at the edges of the confining environment. An important facet of this research was to demonstrate the relatively wide applicability of these techniques by showing that both: (1) Standard modern NMR instrumentation is capable of deploying an automated measurement, even though the choice of a deuterium nucleus is nonstandard and frequently requires companion proton spectra in order to reference the chemical shifts; and (2) well-established (though underutilized) modern techniques can process the resulting signal even though it involves the somewhat unusual combination of chemical shifts along one dimension and a distribution of relaxation times along another dimension. In addition to demonstrating that this technique can be deployed across many samples of interest, detailed facts pertaining to the broadening or shifting of resulting signals upon inclusion of various guest molecules are also discussed.

Second ionization constant of sulfuric acid in H2O and D2O from 150 to 300 °C at p = 11.5 MPa using flow AC conductivity

A custom-built flow-through AC conductivity instrument was used to measure the deuterium isotope effect on the ionization quotient of bisulfate from 150 to 300 °C, at p = 11.5 MPa. Standardized solutions of KCl, HCl, KOH, KHSO₄, K₂SO₄, and H₂SO₄ were prepared in light and heavy waters and their conductivities were measured and fitted with the Quint-Viallard conductivity model to obtain single ion conductivities at infinite dilution for K⁺, Cl^-, H⁺, OH^-, HSO₄^-, and SO₄^2-. These are the first conductivities of DSO₄^- and SO₄^2- measured in heavy water at any temperature, and the first ionization constants for bisulfate reported in heavy water above 225 °C. The deuterium isotope effect on the chemical equilibrium constant, ΔpK_2a = pK_2a,D - pK_2a,H, was found to increase with temperature, in contrast to the behaviour seen for other simple oxyacids.

Temperature Dependence of Structural Relaxation in Glass-Forming Liquids and Polymers

Understanding the microscopic mechanism of the transition of glass remains one of the most challenging topics in Condensed Matter Physics. What controls the sharp slowing down of molecular motion upon approaching the glass transition temperature Tg, whether there is an underlying thermodynamic transition at some finite temperature below Tg, what the role of cooperativity and heterogeneity are, and many other questions continue to be topics of active discussions. This review focuses on the mechanisms that control the steepness of the temperature dependence of structural relaxation (fragility) in glass-forming liquids. We present a brief overview of the basic theoretical models and their experimental tests, analyzing their predictions for fragility and emphasizing the successes and failures of the models. Special attention is focused on the connection of fast dynamics on picosecond time scales to the behavior of structural relaxation on much longer time scales. A separate section discusses the specific case of polymeric glass-forming liquids, which usually have extremely high fragility. We emphasize the apparent difference between the glass transitions in polymers and small molecules. We also discuss the possible role of quantum effects in the glass transition of light molecules and highlight the recent discovery of the unusually low fragility of water. At the end, we formulate the major challenges and questions remaining in this field.

Giant Enhancement of Optical Second Harmonic in Poled Glasses by Cold Repoling

For the first time, we demonstrated that additional poling at room temperature (cold repoling) of a soda-lime glass thermally poled in open anode configuration causes an increase of the optical second harmonic signal by more than an order of magnitude. Performed experiments allow relating this increase in the optical nonlinearity of the glass to the orientation of hydrogenated dipoles in the vicinity of the glass surface. This indicates that both frozen electric field and dipole orientation are responsible for the nonlinearity of thermally poled alkali-containing glasses. Observed dipole orientation in glasses is of interest for molecular physics and electrodynamic studies.

Isotope effects on the dynamics of amorphous ices and aqueous phosphoric acid solutions

The glass transitions of amorphous ices as well as of aqueous phosphoric acid solutions were reported to display very large ¹H/²H isotope effects. Using dielectric spectroscopy, in both types of glassformers for equimolar protonated/deuterated mixtures an almost ideal isotope-mixing behavior rather than a bimodal relaxation is found. For the amorphous ices this finding is interpreted in terms of a glass-to-liquid rather than an orientational glass transition scenario. Based on calorimetric results revealing that major ¹⁶O/¹⁸O isotope effects are missing, the latter scenario was previously favored for the amorphous ices. Considering the dielectric results on ¹⁸O substituted amorphous ices and by comparison with corresponding results for the aqueous phosphoric acid solutions, it is argued that the present findings are compatible with the glass-to-liquid scenario. To provide additional information regarding the deeply supercooled state of ¹H/²H isotopically mixed and ¹⁸O substituted glassformers, the aqueous phosphoric acid solutions are studied using shear mechanical spectroscopy as well, a technique which so far could not successfully be applied to characterize the glass transitions of the amorphous ices.

Dielectric Characteristics, Electrical Conductivity and Solvation of Ions in Electrolyte Solutions

Solvation and association of ions in solutions largely depend on the dielectric properties of the solvent, the distance between ions in solutions, and temperature. This paper considers the effect of temperature on static dielectric constant (DC), dipole dielectric relaxation (DR) time, and limiting (ultimate) high frequency (HF) electrical conductivity (EC) of water and some polar solvents. In the investigated temperature range (0–370 °C), the static DC and DR time of water decrease, and limiting HF EC passes through a maximum at 250–300 °C with temperature growth. The dielectric characteristics of methanol, ethanol, and propanol behave in a similar way. It is shown that the existence of an HF EC temperature maximum is due to the different nature of the temperature dependences of DC and DR time. It is suggested that the same dependences are responsible for the presence of a maximum in the temperature dependences of the dissociation degree and the ionic product of water. The influence of non-electrolytes concentration as well as metal salts on the dielectric properties of their aqueous solutions is considered. The limiting HF EC of water determines the specific EC value of aqueous electrolyte solutions. Analysis of the absorption of microwave energy by polar solvents, as well as aqueous solutions of non-electrolytes and electrolytes, at a frequency of 2455 MHz is carried out. The optimal conditions for high-frequency heating of solutions have been established. The distance between ions in aqueous solutions of inorganic salts and in non-aqueous solutions of ionic liquids is calculated. It is shown that the maximum on the concentration dependence of the specific EC can be related to ions association.

Third dissociation constant of phosphoric acid in H2O and D2O from 75 to 300 °C at p = 20.4 MPa using Raman spectroscopy and a titanium-sapphire flow cell

A custom-built titanium-sapphire flow cell has been used with a confocal Raman microscope to collect solvent-corrected reduced isotropic spectra of sodium and potassium phosphate solutions in light and heavy water from 75 to 300 °C at 20.4 ± 0.4 MPa over a wide range of concentrations. The symmetric vibrational modes of PO43- and HPO42-/DPO42- in both solvents broadened and moved to lower wavenumbers with increasing temperature, suggesting that oxyanion-water hydrogen bond strengths increase at elevated temperatures. Raman scattering coefficients, measured relative to the trifluoromethanesulfonate ion, were used to determine thermodynamic equilibrium quotients for the reaction PO43- + H2O ⇌ HPO42- + OH- and its deuterium counterpart. Standard-state acid ionization constants were calculated using a modified Pitzer model and fitted as a function of temperature and solvent molar volume over the range of 25 to 300 °C from psat to 20 MPa. The deuterium isotope effect on the chemical equilibrium constant, ΔpK3a,m = pK3a,D,m - pK3a,H,m, was found to decrease from 1.045 ± 0.046 at 25 °C to 0.898 ± 0.073 at 250 °C. This behaviour is consistent with a model in which zero-point energy effects dominate at low temperatures and long-range solvent polarization becomes increasingly important as the temperature increases towards the critical point of D2O. These are the first experimental ionization constants to be reported in the literature for this reaction in light water above 50 °C and in heavy water at any temperature.

Dielectric response of light, heavy and heavy-oxygen water: isotope effects on the hydrogen-bonding network's collective relaxation dynamics

Isotopic substitutions largely affect the dielectric relaxation dynamics of hydrogen-bonded liquid water; yet, the role of the altered molecular masses and nuclear quantum effects has not been fully established. To disentangle these two effects we study the dielectric relaxation of light (H216O), heavy (D216O) and heavy-oxygen (H218O) water at temperatures ranging from 278 to 338 K. Upon 16O/18O exchange, we find that the relaxation time of the collective orientational relaxation mode of water increases by 4-5%, in quantitative agreement with the enhancement of viscosity. Despite the rotational character of dielectric relaxation, the increase is consistent with a translational mass factor. For H/D substitution, the slow-down of the relaxation time is more pronounced and also shows a strong temperature dependence. In addition to the classical mass factor, the enhancement of the relaxation time for D216O can be described by an apparent temperature shift of 7.2 K relative to H216O, which is higher than the 6.5 K shift reported for viscosity. As this shift accounts for altered zero-point energies, the comparison suggests that the underlying thermally populated states relevant to the activation of viscous flow and dielectric relaxation differ.

In situ Raman monitoring of dielectric-heating-enhanced freeze-drying under different electromagnetic wave frequencies

We studied the effect of dielectric heating on the enhancement of freeze-drying by electromagnetic waves (EMWs) under different frequencies: 2.45 GHz microwaves (MWs), and 27 and 200 MHz radio frequencies (RFs). The irradiation with RFs, particularly at 27 MHz, reduced the duration of freeze-drying by 67%. We further analysed the water structure by in situ Raman spectroscopy during freeze-drying under EMWs. The phase transition from ice to water occurred soon after starting irradiation by MWs at 2.45 GHz, while the ice phase was almost maintained at an RF of 27 MHz.

Microwave-assisted hydrothermal extraction of sulfated polysaccharides from Ulva spp. and Monostroma latissimum

Microwave-assisted hydrothermal extraction was applied for production of sulfated polysaccharides from Ulva spp. and Monostroma latissimum. The maximum ulvan yields attained 40.4±3.2% (Ulva meridionalis) and 36.5±3.1% (Ulva ohnoi) within 4min of come-up time and 10min of extraction time at 160°C, respectively. The rhamnan sulfate yield from M. latissimum further attained 53.1±7.2% at 140°C. The sulfated polysaccharides were easily recovered from the extract by simple ethanol precipitation. In addition, molecular weights and viscosity of the extracted polysaccharides could be controlled by varying the extraction temperature. Dielectric measurement revealed that ionic conduction was the important parameter that affect the microwave susceptibility of algae-water mixture. The sulfated polysaccharides extracts are expected as potential feedstock for medical and food applications.

The mechanism of the dielectric relaxation in water

The water spectra from Raman and Dielectric spectroscopies are combined to present a cohesive description of water dynamics up to the THz region.

Quantitative characterization of hydration state and destructuring effect of monosaccharides and disaccharides on water hydrogen bond network

Terahertz time-domain attenuated total reflection measurements of monosaccharide (glucose and fructose) and disaccharide (sucrose and trehalose) solutions from 0.146 M to 1.462 M were performed to evaluate (1) the hydration state and (2) the destructuring effect of saccharide solutes on the hydrogen bond (HB) network. Firstly, the extent of hydration water was determined by the decreased amount of bulk water with picosecond relaxation time that was replaced by that with much longer orientational relaxation time. As a result, we found glucose and trehalose exhibits stronger hydration capacity than fructose and sucrose, respectively, despite of the same number of the hydroxyl groups. For each saccharide, the hydration number tended to decrease with solute concentration. Secondly, the destructuring effect of these saccharide solutes on the HB network of the surrounding bulk water was discussed from the perspective of the fraction of non-hydrogen-bonded (NHB) water isolated from the HB network. We found the fraction of NHB water molecules that are not engaged in the HB network monotonously increased with saccharide concentration, indicating saccharide solutes promote the disruption of the water HB network. However, no noticeable differences were confirmed in the fraction of NHB water between glucose and fructose or between sucrose and trehalose. In contrast to hydration number, the number of NHB water produced by a single saccharide solute was less dependent on solute concentration, and three monosaccharide/disaccharide solutes were found to produce one/two NHB water molecules.

Anomalously large isotope effect in the glass transition of water

We present the discovery of an unusually large isotope effect in the structural relaxation and the glass transition temperature Tg of water. Dielectric relaxation spectroscopy of low-density as well as of vapor-deposited amorphous water reveal Tg differences of 10 ± 2 K between H2O and D2O, sharply contrasting with other hydrogen-bonded liquids for which H/D exchange increases Tg by typically less than 1 K. We show that the large isotope effect and the unusual variation of relaxation times in water at low temperatures can be explained in terms of quantum effects. Thus, our findings shed new light on water's peculiar low-temperature dynamics and the possible role of quantum effects in its structural relaxation, and possibly in dynamics of other low-molecular-weight liquids.

Water under inner pressure: a dielectric spectroscopy study

Water is the most studied substance on Earth. However, it is not completely understood why its structural and dynamical properties give rise to some anomalous behaviors. Some of them emerge when experiments at low temperatures and/or high pressures are performed. Here we report dielectric measurements on cold water under macroscopically constrained conditions, i.e., water in a large container at constant volume that cannot freeze below the melting point. The inner pressure in these conditions shifts the α relaxation peak to similar frequencies as seen in ice Ih. At 267 K we observe a peculiar response possibly due to the Grotthuss mechanism. At 251 K (the triple point) ice III forms.

Deuterium isotope effects on the ionization constant of acetic acid in H2O and D2O by AC conductance from 368 to 548 K at 20 MPa

Values of the ionization constant of acetic acid in H(2)O and D(2)O (K(HAc) and K(DAc)) and the deuterium isotope effect, ΔpK = pK(DAc) - pK(HAc), have been determined from T = 368 K to T = 548 K at p = 20 MPa, using a flow-through ac conductance cell built at the University of Delaware. Measurements were made on dilute (ionic strength ∼ 10(-4) mol·kg(-1)) solutions of acetic acid, sodium acetate, hydrochloric acid, and sodium chloride in H(2)O and D(2)O, injected in sequence at each temperature and pressure, so that systematic errors in the measured conductance of each solution would cancel. Experimental values for the molar conductivity, Λ, of the strong electrolytes were used to calculate the molar conductivity at infinite dilution, Λ°, using the Fuoss-Hsia-Fernández-Prini (FHFP) equation. These were used to calculate the molar conductivity at infinite dilution for acetic acid which was in turn used to calculate the degree of dissociation and finally the ionization constants of acetic acid. This same procedure was done for the pertinent deuterated solutes in D(2)O. Measured values of log K(HAc), log K(DAc), and ΔpK were obtained to a precision of ±0.008. The present results are in agreement with the only other accurate study at high temperatures and pressures (Mesmer, R. E.; Herting, D. L. J. Solution Chem.1978, 7, 901-913). The deuterium isotope effects, ΔpK, become independent of temperature above ∼420 K, at a value approximately 0.1 unit lower than that at 298 K. These values are ΔpK = 0.43 ± 0.01 and ΔpK = 0.51 ± 0.01, respectively. The temperature dependence of the Walden product ratio, (λ°η)(D(2)O)/(λ°η)(H(2)O), indicates a change in the relative hydration behavior of ions, whereby the effective Stokes radii of the sodium, chloride, and acetate ions in D(2)O relative to H(2)O reverse above ∼423 K. The results also suggest that the greater efficiency of the well-established proton-hopping transport mechanisms for OH(-) and H(3)O(+) at 298 K, relative to OD(-) and D(3)O(+), is significantly reduced as the temperature increases toward 548 K.

Solvation shell dynamics studied by molecular dynamics simulation in relation to the translational and rotational dynamics of supercritical water and benzene

The solvation shell dynamics of supercritical water is analyzed by molecular dynamics simulation with emphasis on its relationship to the translational and rotational dynamics. The relaxation times of the solvation number (tau S), the velocity autocorrelation function (tau D), the angular momentum correlation function (tau J), and the second-order reorientational correlation function (tau 2R) are studied at a supercritical temperature of 400 degrees C over a wide density region of 0.01-1.5 g cm(-3). The relaxation times are decomposed into those conditioned by the solvation number n, and the effect of the short-ranged structure is examined in terms of its probability Pn of occurrence. In the low to medium-density range of 0.01-0.4 g cm(-3), the time scales of water dynamics are in the following sequence: tau D>tau S approximately or > tau J approximately or > tau 2R. This means that the rotation in supercritical water is of the "in-shell" type while the translational diffusion is not. The comparison to supercritical benzene is also performed and the effect of hydrogen bonding is examined. The water diffusion is not of the in-shell type up to the ambient density of 1.0 g cm(-3), which corresponds to the absence of the transition from the collision to the Brownian picture, whereas such transition is present in the case of benzene. The absence of the transition in water comes from the fast reorganization of the hydrogen bonds and the enhanced mobility of the solvation shell in supercritical conditions.

Hydrogen bond dynamics and water structure in glucose-water solutions by depolarized Rayleigh scattering and low-frequency Raman spectroscopy

The effect of glucose on the relaxation process of water at picosecond time scales has been investigated by depolarized Rayleigh scattering (DRS) experiments. The process is assigned to the fast hydrogen bonding dynamics of the water network. In DRS spectra this contribution can be safely separated from the slower relaxation process due to the sugar. The detected relaxation time is studied at different glucose concentrations and modeled considering bulk and hydrating water contributions. As a result, it is found that in diluted conditions the hydrogen bond lifetime of proximal water molecules becomes about three times slower than that of the bulk. The effect of the sugar on the hydrogen bond water structure is investigated by analyzing the low-frequency Raman (LFR) spectrum sensitive to intermolecular modes. The addition of glucose strongly reduces the intensity of the band at 170 cm(-1) assigned to a collective stretching mode of water molecules arranged in cooperative tetrahedral domains. These findings indicate that proximal water molecules partially lose the tetrahedral ordering typical of the bulk leading to the formation of high density environments around the sugar. Thus the glucose imposes a new local order among water molecules localized in its hydration shell in which the hydrogen bond breaking dynamics is sensitively retarded. This work provides new experimental evidences that support recent molecular dynamics simulation and thermodynamics results.

The Johari-Goldstein beta-relaxation of water

There is a plethora of experimental data on the dynamics of water in mixtures with glycerol, ethylene glycol, ethylene glycol oligomers, poly(ethylene glycol) 400 and 600, propanol, poly(vinyl pyrrolidone), poly(vinyl methylether), and other substances. In spite of the differences in the water contents, the chemical compositions, and the glass transition temperatures Tg of these aqueous mixtures, a faster relaxation originating from the water (called the nu-process) is omnipresent, sharing the following common properties. The relaxation time tau(nu) has Arrhenius temperature dependence at temperatures below Tg of the mixture. The activation energies of tau(nu) all fall within a neighborhood of 50 kJ/mol. At the same temperature where mixtures are all in their glassy states, the values of tau(nu) of several mixtures are comparable. The Arrhenius temperature dependence of tau(nu) does not continue to higher temperatures and instead it crosses over to a stronger temperature dependence at temperatures above Tg. The dielectric relaxation strength of the nu-process, Deltaepsilon(nu)(T), has a stronger temperature dependence above Tg than below, mimicking the change of enthalpy, entropy, and volume when crossing Tg. These general property of the nu-process (except for the magnitude of the activation energy) had been found before in the secondary relaxation of the faster component in several binary nonaqueous mixtures. Other properties of the secondary relaxation in these nonaqueous mixtures have helped to identify it as the Johari-Goldstein (JG) secondary relaxation of the faster component. The similarities in properties lead us to conclude that the nu-processes in water mixtures are the JG secondary relaxations of water. The conclusion is reinforced by the processes behaving similarly to the nu-process found in 6 A thick water layer (two molecular layers) in fully hydrated Na-vermiculite clay, and in water confined in molecular sieves, silica hydrogels, and poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) hydrogels.

Percolation Transition in Supercritical Water: A Monte Carlo Simulation Study

Computer simulations of water have been performed on the canonical ensemble at 15 different molecular number densities, ranging from 0.006 to 0.018 A-3, along the supercritical isotherm of 700 K, in order to characterize the percolation transition in the system. It is found that the percolation transition occurs at a somewhat higher density than what is corresponding to the supercritical extension of the boiling line. We have shown that the fractal dimension of the largest cluster and the probability of finding a spanning cluster are the most appropriate properties for the location of the true percolation threshold. Thus, percolation transition occurs when the fractal dimension of the largest cluster reaches 2.53, and the probability of finding a cluster that spans the system in at least one dimension and in all the three dimensions reaches 0.97 and 0.65, respectively. On the other hand, the percolation threshold cannot be accurately located through the cluster size distribution, as it is distorted by appearance of clusters crossing the finite simulated system even far below the percolation threshold. The structure of the largest water cluster is dominated by a linear, chainlike arrangement, which does not change noticeably until the largest cluster becomes infinite.

Apparent and Standard Partial Molar Volumes of NaCl, NaOH, and HCl in Water and Heavy Water at T = 523 K and 573 K at p = 14 MPa

Apparent molar volumes, Vphi,2, of aqueous NaCl, NaOH, NaOD, HCl, and DCl in water and heavy water were determined at T = 523 and 573 K and p = 14 MPa with a high-temperature platinum vibrating-tube densimeter in the aquamolality range 0.25 </= maq </= 2.5 mol. (55.509 mol solvent)-1. The experimental results have been represented with an extended Debye-Hückel equation to describe the concentration dependence of Vphi,2 and to derive standard partial molar volumes of these electrolytes in light and heavy water, V degrees 2,H and V degrees 2,D, respectively. For NaCl and NaOH, the D2O isotope effect at infinite dilution, [V degrees 2,H - V degrees 2,D], increases from 0.2 and 0.8 cm3 mol-1 to 4.5 and 7.1 cm3 mol-1, respectively, when the temperature is increased from 523 to 573 K. For HCl and DCl, the effect is smaller and the sign is reversed, [V degrees 2,H - V degrees 2,D] = -0.7 cm3 mol-1 at 523 K and -1.4 cm3 mol-1 at 573 K. When the effect of ion association is included, the deuterium isotope effect for HCl becomes positive, [V degrees 2,H - V degrees 2,D] approximately 17 cm3 mol-1 at 573 K, consistent with NaCl and NaOH. Two models are proposed to describe the solvent isotope effect on the infinite dilution limit, one based on the Born equation and the other on the dimensionless Krichevskii parameter. The experimental values of V degrees 2,D also have been used to calculate the first reported values for the pressure dependence of the ionization constant of D2O at temperatures higher than 313 K.