First Molecular Structure of Water Reported

Researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Have Observed Water Molecules Next to an Electrode Surface, and Also Determine the Changes in Their Arrangements Under Different Charges

The researchers usedX-RayAbsorptionSpectroscopy to study changes in the arrangement of thewatermoleculesin the interfaciallayerwith a precision never achieved before this study.

X-rayAbsorptionSpectroscopy is a proven technique to study the arrangement of molecule s but isn't generally effective inwaterbecause it dissipates under such conditions.

To safely expose themoleculesofwaterin theX-Ray, researchers designed a thin transparent window with a thin coating of gold. The transparent window allowedX-raysto pass insidethe sample.

A thin wire was then attached to the gold electrode to allow the researchers toconductmeasurements when electrons were released after exciting thewaterwithX-rays.

Researchers also parted the current by pulsingX-raysat a known frequency to determine which part of the electric current was caused byX-raysor a battery.

These series of experiments produced curves ofabsorptionvs.X-rayenergy that show howwatermoleculeswithin the gold interface absorb theX-rays.

Finally, researchers conducted large molecular dynamics simulations of the interface ofwaterand gold to translate the information shown by the curves into a molecularstructure.

"Waternext to the electrode has a different molecularstructurethan it would in the absence of the electrode," concluded Miquel Salmeron, a senior scientist at Berkeley Lab.

Thestructure ofwatermoleculesat the interfaciallayeris important to understand different phenomena in fieldssuch asbiology and material science.

Source: China Topix

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