Experts Discover a new state of water molecule

Scientist, including one of Indian origin, have unveiled unique and unexpected behavior of water molecules that is unmatched by any known gas, liquid or solid states. Researchers at the US department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) described a new tunneling state of water molecules confined in hexagonal ultra-small channels – 5 angstrom across – of the mineral beryl.

                An angstrom is 1/10-billionth of a meter, and individual atoms are typically about one angstrom in diameter. The discovery, made possible with experiments at ORNL’s Spallation Neutron Source and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the UK, demonstrates features of water under ultra confinement in rocks, soil and cell walls. “At low temperatures, this tunneling water exhibits quantum motion through the separating potential walls, which is forbidden in classical world,” said lead author Alexander Kolesnikov. “ This means the oxygen and hydrogen atoms of water molecule are ‘delocalized’ and therefore simultaneously present in all six symmetrically equivalent positions in the same time.”

                The existence of the tunneling state of water should help scientists better describe the thermodynamic properties and behavior of water in highly confined environments such as water diffusion and transport in the channels of cell membranes.

                The neutron scattering and computational chemistry experiments showed that, in the tunneling state, the water molecules are delocalized around a ring so it assumes a double top-like shape. First principle simulations made by Narayani Choudhury showed that the tunneling behavior is coupled to the vibrational dynamics of the beryl structure.

                “The kinetic energy of water protons obtained from the neutron experiment is a measure of their motion at absolute zero temperature and is about 30% less than it is in bulk liquid or solid water,” Kolesnikov said.