"Similarities" between confined and supercooled water
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Controlling the Size, Shape and Stability of Supramolecular Polymers in Water
Published on: August 2, 2012
Maria Antonietta Ricci1, Fabio Bruni, Alessia Giuliani
1Dipartimento di Fisica E. Amaldi, Università degli Studi Roma Tre, via della Vasca Navale 84, 00147 Roma, Italy. riccim@fis.uniroma3.it
Abstract:
Neutron diffraction and deep inelastic neutron scattering experiments performed on bulk stable and supercooled water are compared with the same experiments performed on water confined in silica substrates. Similarities and differences between the two cases clearly show up, as far as both microscopic structure and single proton dynamics are concerned. In particular in both supercooled bulk water and water under confinement we observe a closer average distance between first neighboring oxygen sites and shortening of the H-bonds. In contrast the number of H-bonds per molecule and the number of interstitial water molecules are severely reduced under confinement, and the second peak of the oxygen-oxygen radial distribution function is shifted to shorter distances, compared to the bulk phase. Based on these results a possible scenario for understanding changes evidenced by deep inelastic neutron scattering when water is either confined or supercooled is proposed.
Related Concept Videos
States of Water
Water freezes when the intermolecular forces are greater than the kinetic energy. Unlike most other substances, water is less dense in its solid state than in its liquid state. This is because each water molecule can form...
Cohesion
On a surface,...
Phase Diagrams
Comparing Intermolecular Forces: Melting Point, Boiling Point, and Miscibility
Temporary attractive forces like dispersion are present in all molecules, whether they are polar or nonpolar. They...
Molecular Comparison of Gases, Liquids, and Solids
Aqueous Solutions and Heats of Hydration
When ionic compounds dissolve in water, the ions in the solid separate and disperse uniformly throughout the solution because water molecules surround and solvate the ions, reducing the strong electrostatic forces between them. This process...

