Inferences on dynamic water structure in aqueous solutions from diffusion measurements

The dynamic, hydrogen-bonded structure of water can be profoundly affected by addition of solutes as reflected by the resulting solute—solvent interactions. Measurements of diffusion coefficients for the solute species and for water are a useful probe for studying those interactions and changes in the dynamic water structure.

The analysis of transport properties of electrolyte solutions is presently approached both theoretically and experimentally by the use of generalised transport coefficients such as Onsager phenomenological coefficients, velocity correlation coefficients or the closely related distinct diffusion coefficients of Friedman. However, two of these approaches generally use a solvent-fixed frame of reference and thereby exclude the information available from studying the diffusion of the solvent.

The velocity correlation coefficient approach is used here to examine hydrogen-bonding effects in binary solution containing water as one component. We discuss also examples where intra-diffusion data for water in aqueous solutions give important insights into the dynamic structure of aqueous solutions.