Publication
Title
Ionized water confined in graphene nanochannels
Author
Abstract
When confined between graphene layers, water behaves differently from the bulk and exhibits unusual properties such as fast water flow and ordering into a crystal. The hydrogen-bonded network is affected by the limited space and by the characteristics of the confining walls. The presence of an extraordinary number of hydronium and hydroxide ions in narrow channels has the following effects: (i) they affect water permeation through the channel, (ii) they may interact with functional groups on the graphene oxide surface and on the edges, and (iii) they change the thermochemistry of water, which are fundamentally important to understand, especially when confined water is subjected to an external electric field. Here we study the physical properties of water when confined between two graphene sheets and containing hydronium and hydroxide. We found that: (i) there is a disruption in the solvation structure of the ions, which is also affected by the layered structure of confined water, (ii) hydronium and hydroxide occupy specific regions inside the nanochannel, with a prevalence of hydronium (hydroxide) ions at the edges (interior), and (iii) ions recombine more slowly in confined systems than in bulk water, with the recombination process depending on the channel height and commensurability between the size of the molecules and the nanochannel height - a decay of 20% (40%) in the number of ions in 8 ps is observed for a channel height of h = 7 angstrom (bulk water). Our work reveals distinctive properties of water confined in a nanocapillary in the presence of additional hydronium and hydroxide ions.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Physical chemistry, chemical physics / Royal Society of Chemistry [London] - Cambridge, 1999, currens
Publication
Cambridge : The Royal Society of Chemistry , 2019
ISSN
1463-9076 [print]
1463-9084 [online]
DOI
10.1039/C9CP00075E
Volume/pages
21 :18 (2019) , p. 9285-9295
ISI
000472922500028
Pubmed ID
30931451
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
CalcUA as central calculation facility: supporting core facilities.
Atomic thin membranes for water and ion transport.
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 01.08.2019
Last edited 06.01.2025
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