Ferroelectric mobile water

In molecular dynamics simulations single-domain ferroelectric water is produced under ordinary ambient conditions utilizing carbon nanotubes open to a water reservoir. This ferroelectric water diffuses while keeping its proton-ordered network intact. The mobile/immobile water transitions and the step-wise changes in net polarization of water are observed to occur spontaneously. The immobile water becomes mobile by transforming into the single-domain ferroelectric water. Our general notion of relating a more highly ordered structure with a lower temperature has so far restricted researchers' attention to very low temperatures when experimenting on proton-ordered phases of water. The present study improves our general understanding of water, considering that the term 'ferroelectric water' has so far practically stood for 'ferroelectric ice,' and that single-domain ferroelectric water has not been reported even for the ice nanotubes.     

Fundamental investigation on effect of microencapsulated water on expansion behavior of microcapsules

The microcapsules containing water were prepared with the suspension polymerization method, and the fundamental investigation was performed to make the effect of microencapsulated water on expansion behavior of microcapsules clear. In the experiment, only the volume of water added into styrene monomer was changed to make the effect of microencapsulated water volume clear, and three kinds of water contents were measured: namely, the initial water content for the microcapsules just after preparation, the middle water content for the microcapsules dried at 44°C for 24 hours, and the final water content for the microcapsules dried at 110°C for 1 hours. With increasing the added water volume, the initial water content increased; the middle water content decreased after increasing halfway through, and the final water content gradually decreased. Also, with increasing the added water volume, the drying rate of the microcapsules increased and the expansion ratio decreased. The water volume required to expand the microcapsules, in other words, the critical shell thickness required to prevent evaporation of water and to contribute to expansion of microcapsules is discussed.     

IR Spectroscopic Study of the State of Water in Dioxane and Acetonitrile: Relationship with the Thermodynamic Activity of Water at 278-318 K

The absorption spectra of water in dioxane and acetonitrile were measured at 25°C by Fourier IR spectroscopy while varying the thermodynamic activity of water in organic media from 0 to 1. The state of water in organic solvents is defined in terms of variations in the integrated intensities of water and the contour shape of the band of OH stretching vibrations. The fraction of associated water molecules is estimated in terms of water activity in organic media. In both dioxane and acetonitrile, the water molecules can exist either as associated (H-bonded) molecules or as single molecules complexed with organic molecules, which depends on the thermodynamic activity of the water molecule. In both solvents, a transition between these states of water occurs within a relatively narrow range of activity, but the transition point differs between the solvents. The factors leading to the different distributions of the associated forms of water are discussed in relation to the thermodynamic activity of water in organic media.     

山梨醇改性聚乙烯醇体系的氢键作用及对水状态的影响

采用二维相关红外光谱研究了水渗透进入聚乙烯醇(PVA)及其改性基体过程中, 体系的氢键作用及对水状态的影响; 通过差示扫描量热分析(DSC)研究了改性剂山梨醇(S)对改性PVA中水状态的影响. 实验结果表明, S能通过其羟基与水形成较强氢键, 从而显著改变体系中水的状态及其蒸发行为, 使体系自由水含量逐渐减少, 水的蒸发峰温度升高.     

The interface between water and a hydrophobic gas

Classical molecular dynamics simulations have been performed to investigate the interface between liquid water and methane gas under methane hydrate forming conditions. The local environments of the water molecules were studied using order parameters which distinguish between liquid water, ice and methane hydrate phases. Bulk water and water/air interfaces were also studied to allow comparisons to be made between water molecules in the different environments and to determine the effects of the different methane densities studied. Good agreement between experimental and calculated surface tensions is obtained if long range corrections are included. The water surface is found to have a structure which is very similar to that of bulk water, but more tetrahedral, and more clathrate-like than ice-like. In these simulations the concentration of methane in water at the interface is shown to be appropriate for clathrates at higher gas densities (pressures). The orientation of water molecules around methane molecules in the interfacial region appears to depend only weakly on pressure and one of the difficulties in forming hydrate is the availability of water molecules tangential to the hydrate cage. At the interface, the water structure is more disordered than in the bulk water region with increased occurrence compared with the bulk of those angles and orientations found in the clathrate structure.     

WATER STATES IN SBR BASED WATER SWELLING RUBBER

Water swelling rubber (WSR) was prepared by reaction blending SBR andsodium polyacrylate (PAANa). The existing states of water in the WSR was studied bymeans of DSC and TG. It was found that water exists in three states: nonfreezing water,bound freezable water and free water. The relationships between water states and structureof PAANa were investigated. The results showed that the amount of non-freezing waterwas related to total water content, and the ratio of non-freezing water versus -COONagroups on PAANa (mol/mol) was about 4. However, total water content slightly affectedthe content of bound freezable water and remarkably affected the amount of free waer.     

Wetting behavior of mixtures of water and nonionic polyoxyethylene alcohol

Five binary water + C4Ej mixtures, water + n-C4E0, water + 2-C4E0, water + iso-C4E0, water + n-C4E1, and water + iso-C4E1, were chosen to perform the surface/interfacial tension measurements over the experimental temperature range from 10 to 85 degrees C at the normal pressure by using a homemade pendent drop/bubble tensiometer. The symbol CiEj is the abbreviation of a nonionic polyoxyethylene alcohol CiH(2i+1)(OCH2CH2)jOH. The wetting behavior of the CiEj-rich phase at the interface separating gas and the aqueous phase is systematically examined according to the wetting coefficient resulting from the experimental data of surface/interfacial tensions measurements. For those systems with a lower critical solution temperature, for example, water + n-C6E2, water + n-C4E1, and water + iso-C4E1, a wetting transition from partial wetting to nonwetting is always observed when the system is brought to close to its lower critical solution temperature. On the other hand, to start with a partial wetting CiEj-rich phase, a wetting transition from partial wetting to complete wetting is always observed when the system is driven to approach its upper critical solution temperature. The effect of hydrophobicity of CiEj on the wetting behavior of the CiEj-rich phase at the interface separating gas and the aqueous phase was carefully investigated by using five sets of mixtures: (1) water + n-C4E0, water + n-C5E0, and water + n-C6E0; (2) water + 2-C4E0 and water + 2-C5E0; (3) water + 2-C4E0 and water + n-C4E0; (4) water + n-C4E1, water + n-C5E1, and water + n-C6E1; (5) water + n-C4E0 and water + n-C4E1. The CiEj-rich phase would tend to drive away from complete wetting (or nonwetting) to partial wetting with an increase in the hydrophobicity of CiEj in the binary water + CiEj system. All the wetting behavior observed in the water + CiEj mixtures is consistent with the prediction of the critical point wetting theory of Cahn.     

KBPh4由水到系列水-醇混合溶剂的迁移自由能

由于四苯硼盐在分析化学、生物学、电化学等各领域中的广泛用途及其大阴离子在研究与计算单个离子迁移热力学函数中所具有的特殊作用,人们对四苯硼盐的溶液热力学性质进行了广泛研究,特别是对四苯硼钠和可作为参考电解质的四苯硼盐进行了深入细致的研究 [1, 2],得到了一些重要的的结论,为溶液理论的研究提供了有力的实验基础 .但是文献中对难溶碱金属四苯硼盐由单一到不同混合溶剂中的迁移热力学性质的系统研究较少 .在前文 [3]对 KBPh4由水到水-异丙醇和由甲醇到甲醇-异丙醇混合溶剂的迁移自由能进行研究的基础上,我们系统地对 KB…     

Water Activity Dependence of Lipases in Non-aqueous Biocatalysis

Eleven lipases are tested and it was found that lipases can be divided into three types according to water activity dependence. The first type is lipase that has low water activity dependence and works in a low water activity, its performance changes little with the change of water activity. The optimum water activity is 0.19 and Newlase F (Rhizopus niveus), lipase FAP-15 (Rhizopus oryzae) belong to this type. The second type is lipase that has medium water activity dependence and its performance changes with the change of water activity. Most lipases belong to this type and the optimum water activity in this type is about 0.60. The third type is lipase that has a high water activity dependence and works only in a high water activity (a _w  > 0.75). WGL (wheat germ) belongs to this type and the optimum water activity is 0.90. The relationship between enantioselectivity and water activity is also discussed and the enantioselectivity seems to be independent of water activity. And we also compared the two control methods of water activity, it was found that the method which add solid salt hydrates to the reaction mixture (method II) is more stable and effective throughout the reaction than the method that pre-equilibrate via the vapor phase (method I). The addition concentration of salt hydrates is also investigated and the optimum concentration is 1 g/l.     

Molecular dynamics simulation of swollen membrane of perfluorinated ionomer

Molecular dynamics simulations of the swollen membrane of perfluorinated ionomer, which is composed of poly(tetrafluoroethylene) backbones and perfluosulfonic pendant side chains, have been undertaken to analyze the static and dynamic properties of the water and the side chain in the membrane. The calculations were carried out for four different water contents, 5, 10, 20 and 40 wt %, at 358.15 K and 0.1 MPa. The results are summarized as follows: (1) The sulfonic acid is the unique site to which water molecules can bind, and the other sites in the pendant side chain have no bound water even at high water concentration. (2) Sulfonic acids aggregate in the short range within 4.6-7.7 A despite the electrostatic repulsion between them. In such aggregates, a water molecule bridges two sulfonic acids. (3) Pendant side chains prefer to orient perpendicular to the hydrophilic/hydrophobic interface, and long-range correlation of side chain orientations is observed at 20 and 40 wt % water uptake membranes. (4) In a low water uptake membrane, the dynamics of water is substantially restricted due to strong attractive interactions with acidic sites. In contrast, at high water content, even the water locating near the sulfonic acid is relatively mobile. The short residence time of the bound water reveals that such water can frequently exchange position with relatively free water, which locates in the center of water cluster, in highly swollen membranes.     

DSC study of phase transition of anhydrous phospholipid DHPC and influence of water content

The phase transition behavior of 1,2-di-n-heptadecanoyl phosphatidylcholme (DHPC)with and without water has been studied by use of differential scanning calorimetry It was found by experiment that the glass transition occurred at first during the first heating of a sample of DHPC without water and then the sample underwent melting as an ordinary crystal.Therefore the sample of DHPC without water was a glassy crystal However,the DHPC sample crystallizing from melt was an ordinary crystal From the relationship between the total melting enthalpy Qf of freezable water and the water content h,it was concluded that the water contained in the DHPC samples might exist in three states recognizable thermodynamically.The water in the first state was an unfreezable water It was the water bound directly with the head groups of the phospholipid,i.e.the primary hydration water Every head group might bind seven such molecules of water.The water in the second state was the secondary hydration water,us melt ing point was     

Diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy as a tool to characterise water in adsorption/confinement situations

We present experimental data acquired by diffuse reflectance infrared spectroscopy in the mid-IR (4000-400 cm(-1)), on micrometric-sized mineral grain powders. The spectral evolution of the OH-stretching band is followed when the adsorbed water film is thinned under dry conditions, from high to low hydration states. The IR bands are found to be characteristic of the degree of adsorption/confinement of the liquid water. The OH-stretching band is shifted toward shorter wavenumbers than in bulk water, showing that a significant portion of adsorbed water has a higher intermolecular bonding energy. Complementary treatment of the kinetics of water desorption, varying with the surface forces in the water film, confirms the relationships of these bands with the constrained water state. We distinguish different water types obeying liquid-liquid interactions (free and capillary water) or dominated by solid-water interactions (confined and adsorbed water). Part of this study is devoted to mesoporous silica MCM-41, of interest due to the restricted geometries of its mesopores (4.7 nm) favouring the confined water state. The methodology allows us to distinguish bulk and adsorbed/confined water, using spectral analysis coupled with an understanding of the dynamic behaviour of the desorption process.     

Heat capacity of water in poly(methyl methacrylate) hydrogel membrane for an artificial kidney

The heat capacities of a poly(methyl methacrylate) hydrogel membrane for an artificial kidney have been determined over the range of temperatures from 228 to 298 K as a function of water content. At least two kinds of water were found: freezable water and nonfreezable water. The partial specific heat capacities of both waters were calculated from the dependence of heat capacity of the hydrogel on the water content. The heat capacities of freezable water were estimated to be 1.04 cal g⁻¹ K⁻¹ at 298 K and 0.47 cal g⁻¹ K⁻¹ at 228 K. The mobility must therefore be similar to that of bulk water at 298 K, though the melting temperature was lower than that of bulk water. Consequently, the freezable water was not assigned to bound water but to pore water for which the melting temperature was depressed due to interfacial tension. On the other hand, the heat capacities of nonfreezable water were estimated to be 1.02 cal g⁻¹ K⁻¹ at 298 K and 1.06 cal g⁻¹ K⁻¹ at 228 K. The mobility of the water would be similar to that of free water at both 298 and 228 K. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Analysis of swelling process of protein by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry

The change in the nanoscopic structure and bound state of water in the protein gel were investigated using positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Gelatin was used as a protein. To examine the bound state of water in gelatin gel, the amount of freezing and nonfreezing water in gelatin gels were evaluated by fusion enthalpy of DSC curves. Below water content of 40% (w/w), the whole amount of water was nonfreezing water, whereas above water content of 40% (w/w), the amount of freezing water increased according to increase in water content. To investigate the nanoscopic spatial structure under coexistence of polymer and water, positron annihilation lifetime measurement was performed. The lifetime of o‐Ps or the pore size increased according to increase in water content, particularly below the water content of 40% (w/w). When the water penetrates into the gelatin network, the water molecules form hydrogen bonds with hydrophilic groups inside the helical structure in gelatin gel. The water molecules inside the helical structure expand the structure outward, leading to increase in pore size. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 2031–2037, 2007.     

Do probe molecules influence water in confinement?

The water inside reverse micelles can differ dramatically from bulk water. Some changes in properties can be attributed to the interaction of water molecules with the micellar interface, forming a layer of shell water inside the reverse micelle. The work reported here monitors changes in intramicellar water through chemical shifts and signal line widths in 51V NMR spectra of a large polyoxometalate probe, decavanadate, and from infrared spectroscopy of isotopically labeled water, to obtain information on the water in the water pool in AOT reverse micelles formed in isooctane. The studies reveal several things about the reverse micellar water pool. First, in agreement with our previous measurements, the proton equilibrium of the decavanadate solubilized within the reverse micelles differs from that in bulk aqueous solution, indicating a more basic environment compared to the starting stock solutions from which the reverse micelles were formed. Below a certain size, reverse micelles do not form when the polyoxometalate is present; this indicates that the polyanionic probe requires a layer of water to solvate it in addition to the water that solvates the surfactant headgroups. Finally, the polyoxometalate probe appears to perturb the water hydrogen-bonding network in a fashion similar to that in the interior surface of the reverse micelles. These measurements demonstrate the dramatic differences possible for water environments in confined spaces.     

Tritium/Protium Fractionation Near and Inside DNA

The fractionation factor of tritium between water and DNA as well as between water and the first hydration shell of DNA is determined. For this purpose the sublimation kinetics of water from DNA dissolved in water were determined at -200 °C and tritium was measured in the remaining water free DNA. The last sublimating water fractions showed a tritium level of about 1.4, the residual water free DNA about 1.9 units above the bulk water. The tritium accumulation inside and near DNA is attributed to the thermodynamic triton-proton exchange isotope effect existing between the strong hydrogen bridges of water and weaker hydrogen bridges as well as inside DNA as between the first hydration shell and DNA.     

水在纤维素水凝胶中的存在状态及对纤维素结晶的影响

制备了高度水合状态的纤维素凝胶, 研究了水在凝胶中的存在状态及其对纤维素结晶的影响. 结果表明, 水在纤维素水凝胶中存在非冻结水、 可冻结水和自由水3种状态. 非冻结水饱和含量为一般纤维素吸附水中不可冻结水的5倍以上, 高达1.6 g/g. 纤维素在水合状态下结晶受到抑制, 随着水含量的减小, 结晶会趋于完善. 在环境温度下, 当纤维素中只存在非冻结水时, 其与纤维素分子链间氢键作用力不稳定, 对纤维素结晶抑制作用较弱, 纤维素结晶比较完善, 导致纤维素断裂时表现为脆性断裂. 水介质的引入有望为纤维素的利用开发提供一种新的思路.     

Extracting hydration sites around proteins from explicit water simulations

Two new methods are assessed for determining the location of hydration sites around proteins from computer simulation. Current methods extract hydration sites from peaks in the water density constructed in the protein frame. However, the dynamic nature of the water molecules, the nearby protein residues, and the protein reference frame as a whole tend to smear out the water density, making it more difficult to resolve sites. Two techniques are introduced to better resolve the water density. The first is to construct the water density from the time-averaged position of each water molecule in the protein frame while the water remains within a given distance of this averaged position. The second technique is to construct the water density from the time-averaged position of each water in the reference frame only of the nearby residues. Criteria for determining hydration sites from the water density are examined. Both techniques are found to significantly improve the detail in the water density and the number of hydration sites detected.     

High-density hydration layer of lysozymes: molecular dynamics decomposition of solution scattering data

A characterization of the physical properties of protein hydration water is critical for understanding protein structure and function. Recent small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering data indicate that the density of water on the surface of lysozyme is significantly higher than in bulk water. Here, we provide an interpretation of the scattering results using a molecular dynamics simulation, which allows us to make quantitative predictions about density variations in the first hydration shell. The perturbation relative to bulk water involves statistically significant changes in the average water structure in the first hydration layer. The water density in the first hydration shell is increased by 5% with respect to the bulk. In regions of higher water density, the water dipoles align more parallel to each other and the number of hydrogen bonds per water molecule is higher. Increased water density is found for water molecules interacting with hydrogen and carbon atoms in the backbone or with nonpolar or negatively charged side-chain groups.     

Water in micro- and nanofluidics systems described using the water potential

This Tutorial Review shows the behaviour of water in micro- and nanofluidic systems. The chemical potential of water ('water potential') conveniently describes the energy level of the water at different locations in and around the system, both in the liquid and gaseous state. Since water moves from high to low potential, the water potential enables us to predict and describe the direction of water movement inside systems and between systems and their surroundings. Practical examples of microfluidic devices illustrate the different contributions to the water potential (capillary, gravitational, entropic (osmotic) in liquid water; the partial vapour pressure in atmospheric water and van der Waals forces in water films) and the resulting water movement.