Effect of an electric field on dewetting transition of nitrogen-water system

We investigate the influence of an external electric field on the dewetting behavior of nitrogen-water systems between two hydrophobic plates using molecular dynamics simulations. It is found that the critical distance of dewetting increases obviously with the electric field strength, indicating that the effective range of hydrophobic attraction is extended. The mechanism behind this interesting phenomenon is related to the rearrangement of hydrogen bond networks between water molecules induced by the external electric field. Changes in the hydrogen bond networks and in the dipole orientation of the water molecules result in the redistribution of the neutral nitrogen molecules, especially in the region close to the hydrophobic plates. Our findings may be helpful for understanding the effects of the electric field on the long-range hydrophobic interactions.     

Dielectric relaxation spectrum of water studied by the site—site generalized Langevin/modified mode-coupling theory

The dielectric relaxation spectrum of water is calculated from the site-site generalized Langevin/modified mode-coupling theory. The main part of the relaxation follows the Debye-type function, and a small deviation from the Debye relaxation is found on the high-frequency side. This tendency is consistent with recent experiments, although the absolute relaxation time does not agree with the experimental value quantitatively. The time development of the longitudinal polarization function resembles the dielectric part of the memory function, and we consider that this is because the dielectric friction dominates the collective reorientation of the dipole moment of water. We performed calculations with different dielectric constants using the reference interaction-site model integral equation, and found that the large gap between the time scales of the dielectric relaxation and the longitudinal polarization relaxation causes the Debye-type dielectric relaxation in our theory when the dielectric friction is dominant in the friction on the collective reorientation of the dipole moment. Namely, the longitudinal polarization relaxation is fast enough to be considered as a white noise to the dielectric relaxation process, so that the relaxation becomes a Markov process. The large gap between the two relaxation times originates from a large local field correction owing to the large dielectric constant of water. It is also suggested that the deviation from the Debye relaxation at the high-frequency side is the manifestation of the slow memory caused by the long-time part of the longitudinal polarization relaxation in the low-wavenumber region.     

Dielectric spectroscopy on aqueous solutions of some zwitterionic amino acids

The complex (electric) permittivity of aqueous solutions of dipolar solutes has been measured as a function of frequency between 1 MHz and 40 GHz. Solutes are the isomers DL-2-aminobutyric acid, DL-3-aminobutyric acid, and 4-aminobutyric acid, and also 6-aminohexanoic acid. The measured dielectric spectra show two dispersion/dielectric loss regions, one due to the orientational diffusion of the solute molecules the other one due to the dielectric relaxation of the solvent water. A relaxation spectral function based on a model of the solutions has been fitted to the measured frequency dependence of the complex permittivity. The values for the electric dipole moment and reorientation time of the zwitterionic part of the solute particles derived by this analysis from the measurements fairly agree with theoretical predictions. Quite remarkably, the dipole moment in solution of 4-aminobutyric acid and 6-aminohexanoic acid up to remarkably high solute concentrations is nearly constant. A noteworthy result for the hydration water of the amino acids is, that its relaxation time is almost independent of the solute dipole moment.     

Reorientational relaxation and rotational–translational coupling in water clusters in a d.c. external electric field

Molecular dynamics simulations have been carried out for small water clusters (N=16, 32, 64) in a d.c. electric field at T=200 K. It was shown that for relatively weak fields, there was a significant decrease of reorientational and structural relaxation times for all cluster sizes examined. Regarding the molecular reorientational motions, in the strong field regime, a decoupling of tumbling and spinning librations was observed. Reorientational relaxation times of the dipole and vector joining the two hydrogen atoms were found to follow different relaxation laws, with the former decreasing and the latter increasing with electric field increase. These trends were qualitatively explained by invoking the Debye model with field-dependent friction for dipole librations and the symmetric double-well for spinning rotations on a plane perpendicular to the field axis. Finally, the interdependence of the reorientation on the translational modes of the cluster was indicated, with the translationally slow molecules being rotationally slow as well and vice versa.     

Determination of the Maier-Saupe strength parameter from dielectric relaxation experiments: a molecular dynamics simulation study

Molecular dynamics simulations have been performed to investigate the rotational motion in the nematic and isotropic phases of a model mesogenic system in which the interactions between the molecules are represented by the Gay-Berne potential. First-rank end-over-end rotational relaxation times, analogous to those measured using dielectric relaxation spectroscopy for real mesogens with a longitudinal electric dipole, have been determined as a function of temperature and density. The relaxation times at temperatures throughout the nematic region are found to be larger than the values extrapolated from the isotropic phase to the same temperature. The simulation results are compared with the extended Debye theory for dielectric relaxation in the nematic phase. This relates the reduction in the relaxation rate to the retardation factor which depends on the Maier-Saupe strength parameter, and in turn is defined uniquely by the second-rank orientational order parameter. The simulations indicate that the retardation factor at constant strength parameter is density dependent, a feature neglected in the relaxation theory. We compare the simulation results where possible with experiment.     

Determination of the lifetime of an ion-molecular hydrogen bond from vibrational spectroscopy data

The mutual influence of the orientational relaxation of polyatomic anions of different types of symmetry in aqueous solutions and the rupture of H bonds is examined. It is demonstrated that the experimentally measured correlation times of the dipole moment and Raman polarizability tensor of linear anions can be interpreted as the time of the interaction of the anion with water molecules. The reorientation of perchlorate ion in water is accompanied by the rupture of the ion-molecular bond, being associated with the reorientation of the hydration shell. The reorientation of sulfite, nitrate, and carbonate ions does not result in the rupture of the ion-molecular bond, and hence, the orientational relaxation of these anions can be considered as a lower limit of its lifetime.     

Study of heterogeneous interaction in binary mixtures of 2-methoxyethanol-water using dielectric relaxation spectroscopy

The dielectric relaxation measurements on binary mixtures of 2-methoxyethanol with water have been carried out over entire concentrations and at temperature range of 0 °C to 25 °C using a picosecond time domain reflectometry technique. The complex dielectric permittivity spectra of 2-methoxyethanol/water mixtures were fitted using Havriliak-Negami equation. The static dielectric constant and relaxation time for all concentrations were obtained using least square fit method. The principal relaxation time is small if compared to that of corresponding alcohol/water mixtures this may be due to the hydrogen bonding ether oxygen in the 2-ME-water system. Excess dielectric properties, Kirkwood correlation factor, thermodynamic properties and Bruggeman factor are also determined and the results are interpreted in terms of heterogeneous interactions among the unlike molecules due to hydrogen bonding.     

铵水间质子交换的再研究:不受扩散约束的化学交换

对铵盐水溶液中铵离子与水分子间的质子交换进行了再研究. 以核磁共振(NMR) 波谱学方法测定了不同pH值, 不同温度和含不同共存盐浓度的氯化铵水溶液中质子交换速率, 组分自扩散系数及NMR自旋晶格弛豫时间. 结果显示铵水间的质子交换并不受交换主体分子或离子自扩散的约束. 交换机理包括化学键和氢键的交换. 在溶液中, 水分子以氢键为桥 梁连接铵和其因水解而产生的碱性部分--氨. 在氢交换的过程中, 氨从水分子接受一个氢 成为铵, 同时另外一端的铵提供一个氢给水分子而变成氨, 或者一个氢从水分子转移到氨而同 时另外一个氢从铵转移到水. 在铵水质子交换的过程中没有净的电荷转移. 在低pH条件下, 由水解产生的氨的浓度降低, 亦即铵-水-氨复合物减少, 结果氢交换的可能性降低. 这解释了生物氢交换体系中的一种常见的在低pH值条件下氢交换变慢的现象.     

Water in plasma-polymerized organosilicon films: Dielectric properties

In earlier publications it has been reported that plasmapolymerized organosilicon films may contain up to 6.8 wt% water. A distinction has been made between “weakly” and “strongly” bound water in the polymer matrix, the strongly bound water being incorporated into the film in the form of network aggregates connected with the glass by means of hydrogen bonds. The observation in those materials of a phase transition is due to the changed inner structure of the aggregates in question. The goal of this study is the determination of the effect of absorbed water on the dielectric properties of plasma-polymerized organosilicon films. It is shown that the weakly bound water activates a relaxation process whose frequency at room temperature is above 0.5 MHz. In contrast, the strongly bound water reveals its presence by two relaxation processes of very low frequency, with activation energies of 0.65 eV and 0.87 eV. It was found that the absorbed molecules of strongly bound water may also inhibit the rotation of certain matrix dipoles.     

Hydrogen bond network relaxation in aqueous polyelectrolyte solutions: the effect of temperature

Dielectric spectroscopy data over the range 100 MHz–40 GHz allow for a reliable analysis of two of the major relaxation phenomena for polyelectrolytes (PE) in water. Within this range, the dielectric relaxation of pure water is dominated by a near-Debye process at ν = 18.5 GHz corresponding to a relaxation time of τ = 8.4 ps at 25?°C. This mode is commonly attributed to the cooperative relaxation specific to liquids forming a hydrogen bond network (HBN) and arising from long range H-bond-mediated dipole–dipole interactions. The presence of charged polymers in water partially modifies the dielectric characteristics of the orientational water molecule relaxation due to a change of the dielectric constant of water surrounding the charges on the polyion chain. We report experimental results on the effect of the presence of a standard flexible polyelectrolyte (sodium polyacrylate) on the HBN relaxation in water for different temperatures, showing that the HBN relaxation time does not change by increasing the polyelectrolyte density in water, even if relatively high concentrations are reached (0.02 monomol l(?1) ≤ C ≤ 0.4 monomol l(?1)). We also find that the effect of PE addition on the HBN relaxation is not even a broadening of its distribution, rather a decrease of the spectral weight that goes beyond the pure volume fraction effect. This extra decrease is larger at low T and less evident at high T, supporting the idea that the correlation length of the water is less affected by the presence of charged flexible chains at high temperatures.     

Effects of concentrated NaCl and KCl solutions on the behaviour of aqueous peptide bond environment: single-particle dynamics and H-bond structural relaxation

The effects of salt concentrations on the structure, dynamics and hydrogen bond structural relaxation properties of ～1.10 M aqueous N-methylacetamide (NMA) solution at 308 K are studied by classical molecular dynamics simulations. We have considered the concentration range of salts solution from 0.222 to 3.756 M to investigate the behaviour of aqueous environment of peptide bonds in the presence of concentrated NaCl and KCl solution. It is found that the addition of salt solution facilitates the structural breaking of aqueous NMA hydrogen bonds, as a result the number of hydrogen bonds per NMA molecule and their stability decreases. The water and NMA molecule shows slower translational and rotational dynamics with increasing salt concentrations due to additional ion atmospheric friction. Our result shows that the cation–O_NMA radial distribution function decreases whereas the Cl^?─H_NMA radial distribution function increases with ion concentration. On the other hand, the cation–O_water and Cl^?─H_water radial distribution function shows very negligible change with respect to ion concentration. We have also calculated NMA–water and water–water hydrogen bond structural relaxation times. It is observed that the hydrogen bond structural relaxation of O_NMA─H_water is comparatively slower than the H_NMA─O_water hydrogen bond, which can be attributed to higher number and greater stability of the former hydrogen bond than the latter. The change of the dynamical quantities observed here is more prominent in addition of NaCl rather than the KCl solution.     

On a hydration model utilized in the discussion of dielectric spectra of aqueous solutions

A solution model is discussed which allows the microwave part of the permittivity spectrum of aqueous solutions to be related to characteristics of the hydration water. The parameters, which can be derived from measured dielectric spectra thereby are the hydration water relaxation time, the number of hydration water molecules per molecule of solute, the static orientational polarizability of the hydration water, and a quantity, which refers to the distribution of hydration water relaxation times. The (continuum) model, appropriate for solutions of (nearly) spherically shaped solute particles, has regard to internal electric fields resulting from polarization charges at interfaces. Possible errors in the parameter values are indicated, which may arise if the internal fields are only incompletely taken into account. Previously measured spectra for a series of aqueous solutions of 1,4-diazabicyclo[2,2,2]octane have been evaluated on the basis of the present model. The results for these (favourable) solutions are presented to show, that the found dependence of the parameter values on solute concentration is consistent with the idea of the proposed hydration model.     

Dipole relaxation in weak and strong fields

The process of dipole relaxation in a homogeneous dielectric is studied on the basis of a two-state dipole model. The external field is not assumed to be weak. Two types of applied electric fields are considered: a linearly increasing field, and a field which changes by steps. At the present time pulsed electric fields have found wide application in electron-ion technology.Translated from Izvestiya VUZ. Fizika, No. 1, pp. 95–100, January, 1972.     

Dielectric relaxation of <Emphasis Type="Italic">trans</Emphasis>-4-propyl-(4-cyanophenyl)-cyclohexane liquid crystals

The frequency dependences of the permittivity of a trans-4-propyl-(4-cyanophenyl)-cyclohexane (3PCH) liquid crystal in the nematic phase are measured in the frequency range 1–2000 MHz for different orientations of the director of liquid-crystal molecules with respect to the polarization of an ac electric field. The temperature dependences of the dielectric and optical characteristics are compared in the range of the transition from the nematic phase to the isotropic liquid phase. The dielectric spectra are approximated numerically, and the times of dipole relaxation upon rotation of the molecules about the short and long axes are determined. It is demonstrated that intramolecular motions make a significant contribution to the relaxation. The activation enthalpies are calculated.     

Geometrical structures,vibrational frequencies,force constants and dissociation energies of isotopic water molecules （H2O,HDO, D2O,HTO, DTO,and T2O） under dipole electric field

The dissociation limits of isotopic water molecules are derived for the ground state. The equilibrium geometries, the vibrational frequencies, the force constants and the dissociation energies for the ground states of all isotopic water molecules under the dipole electric fields from -0.05 a.u. to 0.05 a.u. are calculated using B3P86/6-311++G(3df,3pf). The results show that when the dipole electric fields change from -0.05 a.u. to 0.05 a.u., the bond length of H-O increases whereas the bond angle of H-O-H decreases because of the charge transfer induced by the applied dipole electric field. The vibrational frequencies and the force constants of isotopic water molecules change under the influence of the strong external torque. The dissociation energies increase when the dipole electric fields change from -0.05 a.u. to 0.05 a.u. and the increased dissociation energies are in the order of H2O, HDO, HTO, D2O, DTO, and T2O under the same external electric fields.     

A comparison of effective and polarizable intermolecular potentials in simulations: liquid water as a test case

A comparison of polarizable and effective intermolecular potentials has been carried out by employing simulated properties of liquid water at different temperatures. The effective potentials were obtained by adding a fixed fraction (~80%) of the induced dipole moments of the polarizable potential to the permanent dipole moment of the water molecule. The fraction was fitted to reproduce one structural (the height of the first peak of the oxygen-oxygen radial distribution function) and one dynamic (the self-diffusion coefficient) liquid property predicted by the polarizable potential. The two properties were well reproduced simultaneously by the effective potential at 273 K and 303 K, but less accurately at 373 K. The effective dipole moments were 2.79, 2.75, and 2.68 D at the three respective temperatures. In order to examine the effective potentials further, other liquid properties have been considered, and we found that the molecular rotational relaxation times and the hydrogen bonding properties are reproduced well by the effective potentials, whereas the velocity autocorrelation function, the pressure, the dielectric constant, and the Debye relaxation time are reproduced less accurately.     

Dipolar interaction and incoherent quantum tunneling: a Monte Carlo study of magnetic relaxation

We study the magnetic relaxation of a system of localized spins interacting through weak dipole interactions, at a temperature large with respect to the ordering temperature but low with respect to the crystal field level splitting. The relaxation results from quantum spin tunneling but is only allowed on sites where the dipole field is very small. At low times, the magnetization decrease is proportional to as predicted by Prokofiev and Stamp, and at long times the relaxation can be described as an extension of a relaxed zone. The results can be directly compared with very recent experimental data on Fe₈ molecular clusters. Received 9 February 1999     

铁电体中偶极子的滞后对剩余极化的影响

铁电体的剩余极化强度随温度降低而下降的特性引起了人们对铁电体存储数据失效的担心.运用铁电体的唯象理论和偶极子对交变电场的响应,提出了在电滞回线测量中偶极子的滞后冷冻效应模型,对极化的低温退化现象做了合理解释:温度下降导致吉布斯自由能势垒增大,致使偶极子对交变电场的响应时间延长.引入响应的滞后因子发现,极化强度随温度降低会出现峰值,在低温下降直至为零,可用偶极子的滞后与冻结效应描述.详细研究结果表明:因材料组份变化导致热力学参量的变化是重要因素:铁电-顺电相变中软模系数的增大会导致剩余极化峰移向高温;铁电性的增强,温度极化系数的增大和耐压强度或饱和电场的增强均会抑制滞后效应,从而使低温滞后效应移向低温.运用导出的公式数值模拟Ba Ti O_3/Bi Sc O_3复合陶瓷剩余极化强度的实验结果发现,Bi Sc O3含量的增加,使居里温度略有减小,但导致了软模系数较大幅度的增加,其结果是使偶极子的滞后效应发生在较高的温度.软模系数与铁电体的极化特性、铁电性、介电性和力学性均密切相关.研究结论表明:在低温下铁电体的铁电性没有失效,偶极子的低温冻结效应更有利于铁电体长久地保存数据.     

Reconstruction of the distribution function of relaxation times for 7CB and 7OCB liquid crystals from dielectric spectra

A technique for reconstructing the distribution function of relaxation times from the dielectric spectra measured over a wide range of frequencies is proposed and tested using 7CB and 7OCB liquid crystals as examples. The objective function, which is the sum of the squares of the differences between the calculated and measured permittivities, is minimized with the Mathcad program package. It is demonstrated that, in the case of parallel orientation of the molecular director with respect to the polarization of the ac electric field, the distribution function of relaxation times is consistent with the Debye relaxation model; however, there are insignificant deviations in the short-time interval corresponding to the high-frequency portion of the dielectric spectrum. For perpendicular orientation of the director, the distribution function of relaxation times exhibits specific features that are most pronounced for the 7OCB liquid crystal and probably reflect intramolecular motions of the rigid core and fragments of the alkyl chain.     

电场诱导水的太赫兹透射特性研究

许多生物分子自身的转动、振动或分子团的整体振动模式都位于太赫兹波段内,因此可以利用太赫兹光谱技术对生物分子进行检测。同时又由于太赫兹波的光子能量仅为毫电子伏量级,不会对分子的内部结构造成破坏,所以太赫兹时域光谱技术在生物检测方面具有良好的应用前景。众所周知,绝大多数的生物分子只有在液体条件下才能发挥其生物活性,所以研究液体环境下生物分子之间的相互作用就非常必要。然而水分子的转动模式、振动模式以及和氢键有关的能量均处于太赫兹波段,从而对其产生强烈的吸收;另外,水分子为极性分子,而极性分子对太赫兹波有强烈的共振吸收,这就使利用太赫兹技术对生物分子活性进行动态表征产生了困难。因此在研究溶液中的生物分子与太赫兹波的相互作用时,最大限度地减小水分子对太赫兹波的吸收就成为近年来的研究热点。目前,减少水对太赫兹波吸收的主要方法有：在溶液样品中加入抑制氢键缔合的离子来减小水对太赫兹的吸收;通过改变溶液的温度来调节水对太赫兹的吸收;利用微流控芯片技术,通过减小被测样品与太赫兹波的作用距离来减小水对太赫兹波的吸收。另外,激光的激励、电场或磁场的处理,也能改变水对太赫兹波的吸收,将盛有去离子水的微流控芯片放于电场中,研究经电场处理不同时间的去离子水对太赫兹吸收强度的影响。结果发现,太赫兹波的透射强度随着去离子水在电场当中静置时间的增加而增强,当在电场中静置60 min时,太赫兹的频谱强度达到最大,与空气的频谱强度接近。由此可以推断外加电场使水分子的偶极矩发生了变化,从而对整体水分子的振动和转动产生了影响,并且改变了水中的氢键结构,导致了太赫兹透射光谱强度的增强。