A neutron inelastic scattering investigation of the diffusion kinetics of H2O molecules and hydration complexes in concentrated ionic solutions

Intermolecular frequencies of H₂O's and the diffusion kinetics have been investigated by neutron inelastic scattering for concentrated ionic solutions containing small and/or multiply charged cations (e.g., Cr⁺³, Mg⁺², Ca⁺², and Li⁺¹). As higher concentrations are approached such that the majority of H₂O's are in hydration layers, their exchange time can exceed the neutron interaction time. Then the diffusion kinetics depart functionally from activated reorientations of individual H₂O's characteristic of lower concentrations and evolve to continuous diffusion processes of hydration complexes characterized by small self-diffusion coefficients. The general features of the observed evolution in the functionality of the diffusion kinetics are found to be functionally consistent with an approximate model which includes contributions from the delayed diffusional exchange of individual H₂O's as well as the continuous diffusion of hydrated ions. At a given concentration, the temperature interval over which this evolution in functionality occurs increases both with increasing strength of the primary cation-H₂O coordination and with anion basicity. Further, as the temperature decreases, frequencies of defined cation-water hydration complexes gradually sharpen in a continuous manner, showing no abrupt variations at glass transitions. Anions of increasing basicity decrease the self-diffusion coefficients of the ion-water complexes and perturbed frequencies characteristic of cation-water hydration complexes. Such anion effects, at high concentrations, correspond to an increasing degree of time-average indirect or direct ion pairing with increasing anion basicity. This results, in turn, both in a distortion or partial disruption of the cation hydration sheaths and in a degree of coupling and/or bridging between anions and hydrated cations so as to increase the effective masses and friction coefficients associated with their diffusional motions.