A nano-scale free volume perspective on the glass transition of supercooled water in confinement

作者:Roussenova M*; Alam M A; Townrow S; Kilburn D; Sokol P E; Guillet Nicolas R; Kleitz F
来源:New Journal of Physics, 2014, 16(10): 103030.
DOI:10.1088/1367-2630/16/10/103030

摘要

We employ positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) to measure the temperature dependent fluctuations in a local free volume of water confined in a variety of mesoporous materials with different pore sizes and morphologies. We demonstrate that this unconventional approach can be used to probe the dynamics and glass transition temperature, T-g, of water in confinement. In the simplest case of water confined in a 13X molecular sieve (d = 7.4 angstrom), the confinement is so severe that it precludes crystallisation altogether, and we measure a T-g = 190 +/- 2 K. We also show that temperature dependent PALS measurements can be used to probe the glass transition of water molecules confined in matrices with larger pore diameters (SBA-15, KIT-6 and Vycor glass), where the confinement is expected to be less severe.

  • 出版日期2014-10-20