Structural studies of water and other hydrogen—bonded liquids by neutron diffraction

The structural characteristics of hydrogen-bonded liquids may be studied by neutron diffraction. A brief review of the experimental techniques is given with particular emphasis on H/D isotope substitution and temperature difference techniques. These methods are illustrated with reference to recent work on water in its normal and supercooled liquid phases. The temperature variation is linked to the behaviour of the hydrogen bonds and the evolution towards the continuous random network of amorphous ice. A brief report is made for some other hydrogen-bonded liquids, contrasting the strong correlations in hydrogen fluoride which are not well understood with the study of methanol which gives good agreement with computer simulation results. Formic acid has also been investigated and novel techniques used in the analysis of the H/D datasets. The review ends with an overview of current issues and a consideration of future developments.     

Two liquid phases of water in the deeply supercooled region and their roles in crystallization and formation of LiCl solution

The properties of supercooled liquid water and the mechanism of crystallization in it were investigated using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry and reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy. The self-diffusion of the water molecules commences at 136 K, and then the liquid-liquid phase transition occurs at 160-165 K. The latter is evidenced not only by the occurrence of fluidity but also by the formation of a LiCl solution. The infrared absorption band also changes drastically above 160 K due to crystallization of water (on the Au film) and the formation of LiCl solution (on the LiCl film). The immediate crystallization and dissolution of LiCl are thought to be characteristic of normal water that is created in a deeply supercooled region, indicating that viscous liquid water (T > 136 K) is transformed into supercooled liquid water at around 160 K. The crystallization kinetics is different between these two phases because the former (latter) involves nuclear growth (spontaneous nucleation). Without nuclei, crystallization is quenched below 160 K in the present experiment. It is suggested that the viscous liquid phase coexists at the surface or grain boundaries of metastable ice Ic.     

Four phases of amorphous water: Simulations versus experiment

Multiplicity of the liquid-liquid phase transitions in supercooled water, first obtained in computer simulations [Brovchenko et al., J. Chem. Phys. 118, 9473 (2003)], has got strong support from the recent experimental observation of the two phase transitions between amorphous ices [Loerting et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 025702 (2006)]. These experimental results allow assignment of the four amorphous water phases (I-IV) obtained in simulations to the three kinds of amorphous ices. Water phase I (rho approximately 0.90 gcm(3)) corresponds to the low-density amorphous ice, phase III (rho approximately 1.10 gcm(3)) to the high-density amorphous ice, and phase IV (rho approximately 1.20 gcm(3)) to the very-high-density amorphous ice. Phase II of model water with density rho approximately 1.00 gcm(3) corresponds to the normal-density water. Such assignment is confirmed by the comparison of the structural functions of the amorphous phases of model water and real water. In phases I and II the first and second coordination shells are clearly divided. Phase I consists mainly of the four coordinated tetrahedrally ordered water molecules. Phase II is enriched with molecules, which have tetrahedrally ordered four nearest neighbors and up six molecules in the first coordination shell. Majority of the molecules in phase III still have tetrahedrally ordered four nearest neighbors. Transition from phase III to phase IV is characterized by a noticeable drop of tetrahedral order, and phase IV consists mainly of molecules with highly isotropic angular distribution of the nearest neighbors. Relation between the structures of amorphous water phases, crystalline ices, and liquid water is discussed.     

Structural and thermodynamic properties of different phases of supercooled liquid water

Computer simulation results are reported for a realistic polarizable potential model of water in the supercooled region. Three states, corresponding to the low density amorphous ice, high density amorphous ice, and very high density amorphous ice phases are chosen for the analyses. These states are located close to the liquid-liquid coexistence lines already shown to exist for the considered model. Thermodynamic and structural quantities are calculated, in order to characterize the properties of the three phases. The results point out the increasing relevance of the interstitial neighbors, which clearly appear in going from the low to the very high density amorphous phases. The interstitial neighbors are found to be, at the same time, also distant neighbors along the hydrogen bonded network of the molecules. The role of these interstitial neighbors has been discussed in connection with the interpretation of recent neutron scattering measurements. The structural properties of the systems are characterized by looking at the angular distribution of neighboring molecules, volume and face area distribution of the Voronoi polyhedra, and order parameters. The cumulative analysis of all the corresponding results confirms the assumption that a close similarity between the structural arrangement of molecules in the three explored amorphous phases and that of the ice polymorphs I(h), III, and VI exists.     

Dissociation behavior of C2H6 hydrate at temperatures below the ice point: melting to liquid water followed by ice nucleation

The dissociation of C(2)H(6) hydrate particles by slow depressurization at temperatures slightly below the ice melting point was studied using optical microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Visual observations and Raman measurements revealed that ethane hydrates can be present as a metastable state at pressures lower than the dissociation pressures of the three components: ice, hydrate, and free gas. However, they decompose into liquid water and gas phases once the system pressure drops to the equilibrium boundary for supercooled water, hydrate, and free gas. Structural analyses of obtained Raman spectra indicate that structures of the metastable hydrates and liquid water from the hydrate decay are fundamentally identical to those of the stable hydrates and supercooled water without experience of the hydration. These results imply a considerably high energy barrier for the direct hydrate-to-ice transition. Water solidification, probably induced by dynamic nucleation, was also observed during melting.     

Multiple Phases of Liquid Water

The history of the study of the anomalies of liquid water, from the 17th century up to the present, is reviewed and the current view on the origin of these anomalies is summarized. The hypothesis of the multiple liquid–liquid transitions of water in the supercooled region is consistent with the available experimental and simulation data and provides physical explanation of water behavior in a wide thermodynamic range. The general character of the liquid–liquid transitions of fluids is discussed and the remaining questions are formulated.     

Classical and quantum gibbs free energies and phase behavior of water using simulation and cell theory

A method to calculate the classical and quantum free energy of a liquid from a computer simulation by using cell theory [J. Chem. Phys. 2007, 126, 064504] is tested for liquid water and ice Ih against experiment as a function of temperature. This fast and efficient method reproduces reasonably well the experimental values of entropy, enthalpy, and free energy of a liquid across the supercooled, stable, and superheated range of temperatures considered. There are small differences between classical and quantum results of water at 298 K, necessitating a small correction term to reproduce water's enthalpy of vaporisation. Only at higher temperatures is entropy underestimated by up to 9 J K(-1) mol(-1) as verified by thermodynamic integration calculations. Satisfactory agreement for ice, however, is only obtained by using the quantum formulation. Even then, at higher temperatures, the entropies exceed experiment by up to 15 J K(-1) mol(-1). Further insight into the quantum nature of water is provided by inspecting the temperature dependence of the frequencies. The harmonic approximation is further supported by the harmonic force and torque distributions and the very similar entropies obtained from the force and torque variances. All these results suggest that the single molecule harmonic oscillator approximation for water, although not exact, provides a rapid, insightful, and useful means to evaluate the thermodynamic properties of water from a computer simulation in a way that can account for the quantization of water's energy levels.     

Dissociation behavior of “dry water” C_3H_8 hydrate below ice point:Effect of phase state of unreacted residual water on a mechanism of gas hydrates dissociation

The results on a dissociation behavior of propane hydrates prepared from "dry water" and contained unreacted residual water in the form of ice inclusions or supercooled liquid water(water solution of gas) were presented for temperatures below 273 K.The temperature ramping or pressure release method was used for the dissociation of propane hydrate samples.It was found that the mechanism of gas hydrate dissociation at temperatures below 273 K depended on the phase state of unreacted water in the hydrate sample.Gas hydrates dissociated into ice and gas if the ice inclusions were in the hydrate sample.The samples of propane hydrates with inclusions of unreacted supercooled water only(without ice inclusions) dissociated into supercooled water and gas below the pressure of the supercooled water-hydrate-gas metastable equilibrium.     

On the role of surface charges for homogeneous freezing of supercooled water microdroplets

Charge induced changes in homogeneous freezing rates of water have been proposed to constitute a possible link between the global atmospheric electric circuit and cloud microphysics and thus climate. We report here on high precision measurements of the homogeneous nucleation rate of charged, electro-dynamically levitated single water droplets as a function of their surface charge. No evidence has been found that the homogeneous volume specific ice nucleation rate of supercooled microdroplets is influenced by surface charges in the range between +/-200 elementary charges per μm(2). It has also been suggested that filamentation in highly electrified liquids can induce freezing at temperatures well above the homogeneous freezing limit. We report here the observation of Coulomb instabilities of highly charged droplets that are accompanied with the formation and ejection of fine filaments from the liquid supercooled droplets. Down to temperatures of 240 K, which is close to the homogeneous freezing limit of uncharged water, no filamentation induced freezing has been detected. At even lower temperatures, the droplets froze before the instability was reached. These findings rule out that filamentation exerts an important influence on ice formation in supercooled water. Combining these findings, we conclude that the surface charges (even at their maximum possible density) have no significant effect on the homogeneous ice nucleation rate of supercooled cloud droplets.     

Liquid-liquid transition in supercooled water investigated by interaction with LiCl and Xe

The hypothesis that supercooled water consists of two distinct liquid phases has been explored on the basis of their ability to hydrate nonpolar (Xe) and electrolytic (LiCl) species. Xe incorporated in the bulk of amorphous solid water survives in the deeply supercooled regime above the glass-transition temperature of 136 K and is finally dehydrated at 165 K, whereas LiCl dissolves only in the liquid phase appearing above 165 K. The second liquid phase connects with normal water as inferred from high (poor) solubility of LiCl (Xe). This result also suggests that decoupling of translational diffusion and viscosity in the deeply supercooled regime is caused by domain structures of the two liquid phases formed during a possible liquid-liquid transition.     

Free energy landscapes for homogeneous nucleation of ice for a monatomic water model

We simulate the homogeneous nucleation of ice from supercooled liquid water at 220 K in the isobaric-isothermal ensemble using the MW monatomic water potential. Monte Carlo simulations using umbrella sampling are performed in order to determine the nucleation free energy barrier. We find the Gibbs energy profile to be relatively consistent with that predicted by classical nucleation theory; the free energy barrier to nucleation was determined to be ~18 k(B)T and the critical nucleus comprised ~85 ice particles. Growth from the supercooled liquid gives clusters that are predominantly cubic, whilst starting with a pre-formed subcritical nucleus of cubic or hexagonal ice results in the growth of predominantly that phase of ice only.     

The ice-vapor interface and the melting point of ice I(h) for the polarizable POL3 water model

We use molecular dynamics simulations to determine the melting point of ice I(h) for the polarizable POL3 water force field (Dang, L. X. J. Chem. Phys.1992, 97, 2659). Simulations are performed on a slab of ice I(h) with two free surfaces at several different temperatures. The analysis of the time evolution of the total energy in the course of the simulations at the set of temperatures yields the melting point of the POL3 model to be T(m) = 180 ± 10 K. Moreover, the results of the simulations show that the degree of hydrogen-bond disorder occurring in the bulk of POL3 ice is larger (at the corresponding degree of undercooling) than in ice modeled by nonpolarizable water models. These results demonstrate that the POL3 water force field is rather a poor model for studying ice and ice-liquid or ice-vapor interfaces. While a number of polarizable water models have been developed over the past years, little is known about their performance in simulations of supercooled water and ice. This study thus highlights the need for testing of the existing polarizable water models over a broad range of temperatures, pressures, and phases, and developing a new polarizable water force field, reliable over larger areas of the phase diagram.     

Heat capacity of tetrahydrofuran clathrate hydrate and of its components, and the clathrate formation from supercooled melt

We report a thermodynamic study of the formation of tetrahydrofuran clathrate hydrate by explosive crystallization of water-deficient, near stoichiometric, and water-rich solutions, as well as of the heat capacity, C(p), of (i) supercooled tetrahydrofuran-H2O solutions and of the clathrate hydrate, (ii) tetrathydrofuran (THF) liquid, and (iii) supercooled water and the ice formed on its explosive crystallization. In explosive freezing of supercooled solutions at a temperature below 257 K, THF clathrate hydrate formed first. The nucleation temperature depends on the cooling rate, and excess water freezes on further cooling. The clathrate hydrate melts reversibly at 277 K and C(p) increases by 770 J/mol K on melting. The enthalpy of melting is 99.5 kJ/mol and entropy is 358 J/mol K. Molar C(p) of the empty host lattice is less than that of the ice, which is inconsistent with the known lower phonon frequency of H2O in the clathrate lattice. Analysis shows that C(p) of THF and ice are not additive in the clathrate. C(p) of the supercooled THF-H2O solutions is the same as that of water at 247 K, but less at lower temperatures and more at higher temperatures. The difference tends to become constant at 283 K. The results are discussed in terms of the hydrogen-bonding changes between THF and H2O.     

A non-polarizable model of water that yields the dielectric constant and the density anomalies of the liquid: TIP4Q

A four-site rigid water model is presented, whose parameters are fitted to reproduce the experimental static dielectric constant at 298 K, the maximum density of liquid water and the equation of state at low pressures. The model has a positive charge on each of the three atomic nuclei and a negative charge located at the bisector of the HOH bending angle. This charge distribution allows increasing the molecular dipole moment relative to four-site models with only three charges and improves the liquid dielectric constant at different temperatures. Several other properties of the liquid and of ice Ih resulting from numerical simulations with the model are in good agreement with experimental values over a wide range of temperatures and pressures. Moreover, the model yields the minimum density of supercooled water at 190 K and the minimum thermal compressibility at 310 K, close to the experimental values. A discussion is presented on the structural changes of liquid water in the supercooled region where the derivative of density with respect to temperature is a maximum.     

Johari-Goldstein relaxation and crystallization of sorbitol to ordered and disordered phases

The equilibrium permittivity epsilon(s) and the dielectric relaxation spectra of supercooled liquid D-sorbitol were measured during its crystallization to orientationally disordered or ordered phases depending on the sample preparation procedure at several fixed temperatures up to a period of 6 days. The epsilon(s) measurements showed that when the sample was contaminated by a minute amount of crystals, it crystallized to an ordered phase. When the liquid was not contaminated, the sample crystallized to an orientationally disordered phase. When supercooled D-sorbitol was kept close to its T(g), its dielectric spectra did not change over a period of 138.5 h. It was found that the Johari-Goldstein (JG) relaxation rate of the orientationally disordered crystalline phase is higher in comparison with that of the supercooled liquid, the spectrum broader, and the relaxation strength lower. Its glasslike transition temperature is higher than T(g) of the liquid. The results on crystallization showed that the structural changes occurring at a temperature where the alpha relaxation emerges from the JG relaxation affects the crystallization kinetics of the liquid.     

Formation of high density amorphous ice by decompression of ice VII and ice VIII at 135 K

Monte Carlo computer simulations of ice VII and ice VIII phases have been undertaken using the four-point transferable intermolecular potential model of water. By following thermodynamic paths similar to those used experimentally, ice is decompressed resulting in an amorphous phase. These phases are compared to the high density amorphous phase formed upon compression of ice Ih and are found to have very similar structures. By cooling liquid water along the water/Ih melting line a high density amorphous phase was also generated.     

Nucleation from a supercooled binary mixture studied by crossed polarizers

Polarized light passing through a supercooled binary liquid mixture sample is analyzed during the moment of the nucleation of the crystal phase to determine whether the stable equilibrium crystal is nucleated, or whether a transient phase of different composition or broken-symmetry is formed. This experiment is performed for the particular case of heterogeneous nucleation of a supercooled clathrate-forming liquid mixture, tetrahydrofuran (THF)/water, compared with ice nucleating from pure supercooled water. The new experimental results are consistent with the hypothesis that the equilibrium clathrate hydrate crystal is nucleated directly, with no transient phase detected on the time scale of these experiments.     

Widom line and the liquid-liquid critical point for the TIP4P/2005 water model

The Widom line and the liquid-liquid critical point of water in the deeply supercooled region are investigated via computer simulation of the TIP4P/2005 model. The Widom line has been calculated as the locus of compressibility maxima. It is quite close to the experimental homogeneous nucleation line and, in the region studied, it is almost parallel to the curve of temperatures of maximum density at fixed pressure. The critical temperature is determined by examining which isotherm has a region with flat slope. An interpolation in the Widom line gives the rest of the critical parameters. The computed critical parameters are T(c)=193 K, p(c)=1350 bar, and ρ(c)=1.012 g/cm(3). Given the performance of the model for the anomalous properties of water and for the properties of ice phases, the calculated critical parameters are probably close to those of real water.     

Thermodynamic anomalies in a lattice model of water

We investigate a lattice-fluid model of water, defined on a three-dimensional body centered cubic lattice. Model molecules possess a tetrahedral symmetry, with four equivalent bonding arms, aiming to mimic the formation of hydrogen bonds. The model is similar to the one proposed by Roberts and Debenedetti [J. Chem. Phys. 105, 658 (1996)], simplified in that no distinction between bond "donors" and "acceptors" is imposed. Bond formation depends both on orientation and local density. In the ground state, we show that two different ordered (ice) phases are allowed. At finite temperature, we analyze homogeneous phases only, working out phase diagram, response functions, the temperature of maximum density locus, and the Kauzmann line. We make use of a generalized first-order approximation on a tetrahedral cluster. In the liquid phase, the model exhibits several anomalous properties observed in real water. In the low temperature region (supercooled liquid), there are evidences of a second critical point and, for some range of parameter values, this scenario is compatible with the existence of a reentrant spinodal.