Cambridge scientists discover a new state of water standing between ice and liquid

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An international research team led by scientists from the University of Cambridge was able to detect new water states by building a computational model that accurately predicts the behavior of water in a special case, which could contribute to the development of drug technology in the future.

We know that water is made up of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. In this case, the water molecules are distributed in the form of only one layer of molecules, imagine that it is a piece of cloth, for example, or a stretched carpet, but it is only one water molecule thick.

Two cases of water

According to a new study published in the journal Nature on September 14, the water in this nano state acquires completely different characteristics from the water we know in our normal lives, as it is super-conductive and the protons in its atoms move in a strange way, and the protons are positively charged particles that are present Inside the nuclei of atoms.

In general, the physical properties of many materials at the nanoscale differ from their properties at the natural level due to the so-called ' scale effect'.

The scale effect has both engineering reasons, such as the difference in the surface-to-volume ratio at the nanoscale, and physical reasons, where behaviors at the very small scale tend to be influenced by quantum physics on a larger scale.

In an official press release issued by the University of Cambridge, it stated that this research team found that water in this case goes through two basic phases, the first: the hexatic phase, a state in which water is neither a solid nor a liquid, but rather something in between, where the oxygen atoms are linked to each other in the A solid lattice, while the protons flow like a liquid through this lattice. For the sake of approximation, imagine that the protons in this case are a group of children trotting through a maze (the network of oxygen atoms).

The second is called the "superionic phase", and it occurs in particular by placing high pressure on the very thin water layer, and in this particular case, water has a high electrical conductivity.

Great benefits

In their study, the researchers indicate that understanding these two new phases of water can contribute to building very important technologies, as the development of some types of medical drugs depends on how water trapped in small cavities in our bodies or within membranes interacts with the drug. In the form of layers, such as those on which the study was conducted.

Understanding the nature of water in this case also helps to develop very special types of electrolytes, which are chemical compounds that act as a medium for transmitting electricity inside batteries, and it is expected that water in these cases will help raise the capacity of batteries to conduct electricity by a value 100 to a thousand times higher compared to current batteries.