Towey, JJ, Soper, AK and Dougan, L (2016) Low-Density Water Structure Observed in a Nanosegregated Cryoprotectant Solution at Low Temperatures from 285 to 238 K. Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 120 (19). pp. 4439-4448. ISSN 1520-6106
Abstract
The structure of liquid water is defined by its molecular association through hydrogen bonding. Two different structures have been proposed for liquid water at low temperatures: low-density liquid (LDL) and high-density liquid (HDL) water. Here, we demonstrate a platform that can be exploited to experimentally probe the structure of liquid water in equilibrium at temperatures down to 238 K. We make use of a cryoprotectant molecule, glycerol, that, when mixed with water, lowers the freezing temperature of the solution nonmonotonically with glycerol concentration. We use a combination of neutron diffraction measurements and computational modeling to examine the structure of water in glycerol–water liquid mixtures at low temperatures from 285 to 238 K. We confirm that the mixtures are nanosegregated into regions of glycerol-rich and water-rich clusters. We examine the water structure and reveal that, at the temperatures studied here, water forms a low-density water structure that is more tetrahedral than the structure at room temperature. We postulate that nanosegregation allows water to form a low-density structure that is protected by an extensive and encapsulating glycerol interface.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2016 American Chemical Society. This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Journal of Physical Chemistry B, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b01185 |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Physics and Astronomy (Leeds) > Molecular & Nanoscale Physics |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 14 Jul 2016 14:49 |
Last Modified: | 14 Apr 2017 02:25 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b01185 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Chemical Society |
Identification Number: | 10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b01185 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:100172 |