The dielectric response of interfacial water—from the ordered structures to the single hydrated shell

Water is the universal solvent in nature. Does this imply, however, that its interaction with its environment is also a universal feature? While this question maybe too fundamental to be answered by one method only, we present evidence that the broadening of the dielectric spectra of water presents universal features of dipolar interactions with different types of matrixes. If in aqueous solutions the starting point of water’s state can be considered as bulk, with only partial interactions with the solute, then the state of water adsorbed in heterogeneous materials is determined by various hydration centers of the inhomogeneous material (the matrix) and it is significantly different from the bulk. In both cases, the dielectric spectrum of water is symmetrical and can be described by the Cole–Cole (CC) function. The phenomenological model that describes a physical mechanism of the dipole–matrix interaction in complex systems underlying the CC behavior has been applied to water adsorbed in porous glasses. It was then extended to analyses of the dynamic and structural behavior of water in nonionic and ionic aqueous solutions. The same model is then used to analyze the CC relaxation processes observed in clays, aqueous solutions of nucleotides, and amino acids.     

Dielectric spectra broadening as the signature of dipole-matrix interaction. II. Water in ionic solutions

In this, the second part of our series on the dielectric spectrum symmetrical broadening of water, we consider ionic aqueous solutions. If in Part I, dipole-dipole interaction was the dominant feature, now ion-dipole interplay is shown to be the critical element in the dipole-matrix interaction. We present the results of high-frequency dielectric measurements of different concentrations of NaCl/KCl aqueous solutions. We observed Cole-Cole broadening of the main relaxation peak of the solvent in the both electrolytes. The 3D trajectory approach (described in detail in Part I) is applied in order to highlight the differences between the dynamics and structure of solutions of salts on one hand and dipolar solutes on the other hand.     

Dielectric spectroscopy on aqueous solutions of pyridine and its derivatives

The complex (dielectric) permittivity has been measured as a function of frequency between 1 MHz and 40 GHz for aqueous solutions of pyridine, 2- and 3-methylpyridine, as well as 2,4- and 2,6-dimethylpyridine at various temperatures and solute concentrations. Different relaxation spectral functions are used to analytically represent the data, in particular the Cole-Cole function. The solute contribution to the extrapolated static permittivity has been calculated to show that, in correspondence with other aqueous solutions of organic molecules and ions, the permittivity of the solvent seems to be enhanced with respect to the pure water value. Also in accordance with other aqueous systems it is found that the principal dielectric relaxation time for equimolar solutions of stereo isomers at the same temperature may significantly differ from one another. A further result is the finding of an unusually strong temperature dependence in the relaxation time of the 1 molar solution of 2,6-dimethylpyridine.     

Broadband dielectric spectroscopic, calorimetric, and FTIR-ATR investigations of D-arabinose aqueous solutions

The dielectric relaxation behavior of D-arabinose aqueous solutions at different water concentrations is examined by broadband dielectric spectroscopy in the frequency range of 10(-2) -10(7) Hz and in the temperature range of 120-300 K. Differential scanning calorimetry is also performed to find the glass transition temperatures (T(g)). In addition, the same solutions are analyzed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy using the attenuated total reflectance (ATR) method at the same temperature interval and in the frequency range of 3800-2800 cm(-1). The temperature dependence of the relaxation times is examined for the different weight fractions (x(w)) of water along with the temperature dependence of dielectric strength. Two relaxation processes are observed in the aqueous solutions for all concentrations of water. The slower process, the so-called primary relaxation process (process-I), is responsible for the T(g) whereas the faster one (designated as process-II) is due to the reorientational motion of the water molecules. As for other hydrophilic water solutions, dielectric data for process-II indicate the existence of a critical water concentration above which water mobility is less restricted. Accordingly, FTIR-ATR measurements on aqueous solutions show an increment in the intensity (area) of the O-H stretching sub-band close to 3200 cm(-1) as the water concentration increases.     

Dielectric constant and dielectric relaxation in aqueous solutions of K<Subscript>2</Subscript>[PdCl<Subscript>4</Subscript>] and K<Subscript>2</Subscript>[PtCl<Subscript>4</Subscript>]

The MW-dielectric properties of aqueous solutions of K₂[PtCl₄] (I) and K₂[PdCl₄] (II) were studied at 298 and 313 K in the frequency range (12–25 GHz) corresponding to the maximum dielectric constant dispersion for water and aqueous solutions of these salts. The low-frequency conductivities were measured. The static dielectric constant, the dielectric relaxation time, and the enthalpy of activation of the dielectric relaxation of the solutions were determined. Compared to pure water, in solutions of salts I and II, the orientational mobility of water molecules is increased and the network of H-bonds is violated more strongly than that of most other ions with hydrophilic hydration. It was demonstrated for the first time that dielectric spectroscopy can be used for analyzing complexation processes in systems containing aqua and hydroxo chloride complexes of metals.     

Microwave dielectric properties of aqueous potassium iodide solutions as a function of temperature

The complex dielectric permittivity of aqueous KI solutions was studied for molalities of 0.50–4.01 m and temperatures of 288–323 K in the region of water dielectric permittivity dispersion. The values of high-frequency of dielectric permittivity (ε) and dielectric losses (ε″) were obtained at seven frequencies ranging between 7.5 and 25 GHz. The low-frequency electrical conductivity of the aforementioned solutions was measured for calculating ionic losses. A single relaxation process is observed in these solutions, fitted by the Debye or Cole-Cole equation with small distribution parameters. The static dielectric constant and dielectric relaxation time were studied as functions of temperature and concentration; the activation enthalpy of dielectric relaxation was calculated. The temperature dependence of the static dielectric constant was found to disappear in highly concentrated solutions. The structure-breaking effect on water caused by K⁺ and I⁻ ions was affirmed, this effect disappearing in going to elevated temperatures.     

Effect of dielectric properties and structure of aqueous solutions of diallylammonium salts on their reactivity in radical polymerization

The complex dielectric permittivity in the frequency range 7.5–25.0 GHz and the low-frequency specific conductivity of aqueous solutions of diallylammonium salts (diallylammonium and diallylmethylammonium trifluoroacetates and diallyldimethylammonium chloride) were measured at 293–308 K over a wide concentration range. On the basis of the results, the parameters of dielectric relaxation were calculated. The number of water molecules in the solvation shell of the salts was estimated. The concentration behavior of the initial rate of radical polymerization of diallylammonium salts and the rate constant of bimolecular chain termination was correlated with the specific features of the structure of aqueous monomer solutions. The role of “free” water in the initial salt solutions was revealed, a species whose presence in the system determines the character of concentration behavior of the rate constants for the elementary steps of polymerization, such as propagation, chain transfer to the monomer, and bimolecular chain termination.     

Dielectric Studies of Glycine–Ethylene Glycol–Water Solutions Using Time Domain Reflectometry

Time domain reflectometry (TDR) has been used for dielectric relaxation measurements on the glycine–ethylene glycol–water ternary system (TDR) at 25, 30, 35, and 40°C in the frequency range from 10 MHz to 10 GHz. Glycine–ethylene glycol–water solutions are prepared with different concentrations of ethylene glycol (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30%) and also for different glycine molar concentrations (0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1 M). The dielectric relaxation parameters are measured for aqueous glycine solutions also to compare the results with those for the glycine–ethylene glycol–water ternary system. For all the solutions considered, only one relaxation peak was observed in this frequency range. The complex permittivity spectra for the aqueous glycine solutions can be well described by the Cole–Davidson expression, whereas that for the ternary system can be well described by the Havriliak–Negami expression. The logarithm of the relaxation time log() shows a nonlinear relation with the glycine molar concentration that implies a change in the relaxation mechanism with glycine concentration. The dielectric strength increases with an increase in glycine molar concentration, whereas it decreases with an increase in ethylene glycol concentration.     

浓差极化的介电模型——复合膜/溶液体系的数值模拟

提出了具有电导率和介电常数线性分布的介质的介电模型, 并导出了其内部电的和结构性质的参数与宏观测量的电容和电导之间定量关系的理论表达式, 以模拟复合膜中的多孔层部分的介电弛豫行为. 大量的模拟计算描述并解释了多孔层介电谱随介电常数分布、厚度等性质而变化的规律. 进一步对具有层状构造的复合膜以及复合膜和溶液相组成的多层体系的弛豫行为进行了数值模拟, 比较了三个体系(多孔层、复合膜、复合膜/液相层状体系)的介电谱, 结果揭示了介电谱对各层性质的依赖关系. 所提出的电导率和介电常数线性分布的多孔层的介电模型, 也可用于具有其他电导率、介电常数分布规律的体系.     

A molecular dynamics study of the dielectric properties of aqueous solutions of alanine and alanine dipeptide

Molecular dynamics simulations were used to compute the frequency-dependent dielectric susceptibility of aqueous solutions of alanine and alanine dipeptide. We studied four alanine solutions, ranging in concentration from 0.13-0.55 mol/liter, and two solutions of alanine dipeptide (0.13 and 0.27 mol/liter). In accord with experiment we find a strong dielectric increment for both solutes, whose molecular origin is shown to be the zwitterionic nature of the solutes. The dynamic properties were analyzed based on a dielectric component analysis into solute, a first hydration shell, and all remaining (bulk) waters. The results of this three component decomposition were interpreted directly, as well as by uniting the solute and hydration shell component to a "suprasolute" component. In both approaches three contributions to the frequency-dependent dielectric properties can be discerned. The quantitatively largest and fastest component arises from bulk water [i.e., water not influenced by the solute(s)]. The interaction between waters surrounding the solute(s) (the hydration shell) and bulk water molecules leads to a relaxation process occurring on an intermediate time scale. The slowest relaxation process originates from the solute(s) and the interaction of the solute(s) with the first hydration shell and bulk water. The primary importance of the hydration shell is the exchange of shell and bulk waters; the self-contribution from bound water molecules is comparatively small. While in the alanine solutions the solute-water cross-terms are more important than the solute self-term, the solute contribution is larger in the dipeptide solutions. In the latter systems a much clearer separation of time scales between water and alanine dipeptide related properties is observed. The similarities and differences of the dielectric properties of the amino acid/peptide solutions studied in this work and of solutions of mono- and disaccharides and of the protein ubiquitin are discussed.     

Anomalous dielectric relaxation of water molecules at the surface of an aqueous micelle

Dielectric relaxation of aqueous solutions of micelles, proteins, and many complex systems shows an anomalous dispersion at frequencies intermediate between those corresponding to the rotational motion of bulk water and that of the organized assembly or macromolecule. The precise origin of this anomalous dispersion is not well-understood. In this work we employ large scale atomistic molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the dielectric relaxation (DR) of water molecules in an aqueous micellar solution of cesium pentadecafluorooctanoate. The simulations clearly show the presence of a slow component in the moment-moment time correlation function [PhiMW(t)] of water molecules, with a time constant of about 40 ps, in contrast to only 9 ps for bulk water. Interestingly, the orientational time correlation function [Cmu(t)] of individual water molecules at the surface exhibits a component with a time constant of about 19 ps. We show that these two time constants can be related by the well-known micro-macrorelations of statistical mechanics. In addition, the reorientation of surface water molecules exhibits a very slow component that decays with a time constant of about 500 ps. An analysis of hydrogen bond lifetime and of the rotational relaxation in the coordinate frame fixed on the micellar body seems to suggest that the 500 ps component owes its origin to the existence of an extended hydrogen bond network of water molecules at the surface. However, this ultraslow component is not found in the total moment-moment time correlation function of water molecules in the solution. The slow DR of hydration water is found to be well correlated with the slow solvation dynamics of cesium ions at the water-micelle interface.     

Hydrogen-Bond Structure and Low-Frequency Dynamics of Electrolyte Solutions: Hydration Numbers from ab Initio Water Reorientation Dynamics and Dielectric Relaxation Spectroscopy

We present an atomistic simulation scheme for the determination of the hydration number (h) of aqueous electrolyte solutions based on the calculation of the water dipole reorientation dynamics. In this methodology, the time evolution of an aqueous electrolyte solution generated from ab initio molecular dynamics simulations is used to compute the reorientation time of different water subpopulations. The value of h is determined by considering whether the reorientation time of the water subpopulations is retarded with respect to bulk-like behavior. The application of this computational protocol to magnesium chloride (MgCl₂) solutions at different concentrations (0.6–2.8 mol kg⁻¹) gives h values in excellent agreement with experimental hydration numbers obtained using GHz-to-THz dielectric relaxation spectroscopy. This methodology is attractive because it is based on a well-defined criterion for the definition of hydration number and provides a link with the molecular-level processes responsible for affecting bulk solution behavior. Analysis of the ab initio molecular dynamics trajectories using radial distribution functions, hydrogen bonding statistics, vibrational density of states, water-water hydrogen bonding lifetimes, and water dipole reorientation reveals that MgCl₂ has a considerable influence on the hydrogen bond network compared with bulk water. These effects have been assigned to the specific strong Mg-water interaction rather than the Cl-water interaction.     

Ion–Water Cooperative Interactions in Aqueous Solutions of MgCl2 by Dielectric Spectroscopy

The dielectric constant of aqueous MgCl₂ solution has been determined in the frequency range 0.2 MHz to 20 GHz at 298 K using the dielectric relaxation spectroscopy method. The behavior is well described according to four Cole-Cole terms whose evolution with composition is analyzed. The static dielectric constant and relaxation times decreases with the increasing aqueous MgCl₂ solution concentrations. Only one H-bonded water cluster with the aqueous MgCl₂ solution relaxes is reported during the cutoff relaxation time. A distinct ion–water cooperative interaction is observed, and water molecules perturbed by ion contribution on dielectric constant beyond the first hydration shell are obtained.     

Theoretical study of dielectric behavior of microcapsule suspensions with distributed drug release rate

Theoretical consideration is made concerning the dielectric behavior of aqueous suspensions of W/O-type microcapsules containing aqueous electrolyte solutions, especially concerning distribution effects of the electrolyte release rate on the dielectric behavior.It is shown at first that the distribution of the release rate causes electrical conductivity of the capsule interior. Next, it is deduced, in the light of a theory of the interfacial polarization, that the distribution characteristics of the capsule interior's electrical conductivity are closely related to those of the relaxation time for a dielectric relaxation exhibited by the suspensions. Several formulas are derived to describe the relation between the distribution characteristics of the release rate and those of the relaxation time.     

High-Frequency Dynamical Behavior of Poly(ethylene glycol)+H2O Mixtures by Brillouin Spectroscopy

Brillouin spectroscopy has been used to examine high-frequency dynamical behavior of aqueous solutions of poly(ethylene glycol) (Mw ≈ 400g/mol) at 298K in the entire concentration region. It was found that a relaxation process takes place in the experimental frequency window that significantly affects the shape of experimentally recorded spectrum of the density fluctuations (dynamical structure factor). The process detected was attributed to segmental motion of the flexible polymeric chain. The full spectrum analysis of Brillouin spectra has been performed taking advantage of the relaxation function previously used in describing a single relaxation process in dielectric examination of water solutions of PEG 400. The proposed data processing procedure permits a qualitative reproduction of concentration dependencies of the hypersonic wave velocity and absorption measured. The shapes of the concentration dependencies of the relaxation times obtained from the Brillouin and the dielectric spectroscopies are in good agreement over a very broad concentration range, although their absolute values are scaled by the factor of 3. This result indicate that the two processes revealed independently by dielectric and Brillouin spectroscopies, apparently separated in time-scale, are just the same relaxation process.     

Dielectric properties of aqueous solutions of the ammonium heptamolybdate-poly(vinyl alcohol)-water system

The microwave dielectric properties of aqueous solutions of the ammonium heptamolybdate (AHM)-poly(vinyl alcohol)-water ((NH₄)₆Mo₇O₂₄-PVA-water) system are studied along sections with constant concentrations of the components in the frequency region in which the dispersion peak of the dielectric constant of water falls (13–25 GHz) at 298 and 313 K. The static dielectric constant ε_s and the dielectric relaxation time τ of the solutions are found. The dielectric characteristics along the sections vary additively as a function of concentration with respect to the relationships observed in the AHM-water and PVA-water binary systems. The rotational mobility of water molecules is mainly controlled by polymer additives. We suggest that two (water and polymer-ion) subsystems exist in the solution in this case; these subsystems only weakly affect each other.     

Dielectric Characteristics of Water and Electric Conductivity of Aqueous Electrolytes

The specific electric conductivities (ECs) of concentrated aqueous solutions of electrolytes were shown to be comparable to the limiting high-frequency (HF) EC of water. The limiting HF EC of water is determined by the ratio of the absolute dielectric constant to the dipole dielectric relaxation time. It was assumed that the specific EC of an aqueous solution cannot exceed the limiting HF EC of water. The specific ECs of the 1.0 М aqueous solutions of lithium, sodium, and potassium chlorides were calculated from the limiting HF EC of water. At elevated temperatures, the specific ECs of aqueous salts were shown to increase in direct proportion to the limiting HF EC of water.     

KCl/NaCl DMSO aqueous solutions dielectric spectra and cooperative interactions

The complex permittivity spectra of KCl/NaCl DMSO aqueous solutions were measured using microwave dielectric spectroscopy. Ion–water and dipole–water cooperative interactions are investigated by using a fractional relaxation process. Only about one cooperative relaxation was found during the cut-off relaxation time interval and the relaxation time increases with concentration increasing. Ions’ concentration dependent on effective number of water molecules in the shell around ions was calculated to reveal the interactions between K⁺, Cl^?, Na⁺ ions and DMSO molecules.     

The dielectric properties of water in its different states of interaction

A tutorial on dielectric (relaxation) spectrometry of liquids is given in this article. Some methods of measuring complex (electric) permittivity spectra are briefly described. Results for water are presented and related to characteristic properties of the liquid structure and to models of the molecular dynamics, particularly as resulting from computer simulation studies. Dielectric spectra for aqueous solutions of low weight electrolytes, polyelectrolytes, small molecules, and polymers are discussed to illustrate effects of kinetic depolarization, structure saturation, as well as positive, negative, and hydrophobic hydration. Reference is also made to fluctuations in the hydrogen bond network of mixtures of water with liquids that are completely miscible with this unique solvent.     

Microwave dielectric permittivity and relaxation of aqueous potassium trimethylacetate solutions

The MW dielectric properties of aqueous potassium trimethylacetate (pivalate) solutions have been measured at six frequencies (10–25 GHz) at 288, 298, and 308 K. The static dielectric constants and dielectric relaxation times and activation parameters have been calculated. Trimethylacetate ion leads to the decrease in the mobility of water molecules and strengthening of their hydrogen bonds. These changes of water are similar to those in solutions of other carboxylates with a large number of nonpolar groups. The hydrophobic hydration of the trimethylacetate ion is maximal in this series.