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Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Probing the Structure and Dynamics of Interfacial Water with Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Spectroscopy
Published on: May 27, 2018
Pressure dependence of the large-scale structure of water
A Cunsolo1, F Formisano, C Ferrero
1Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA. acunsolo@bnl.gov
Abstract:
We report on small-angle x-ray scattering measurements on liquid water aimed at characterizing the pressure evolution of its large-scale structure. Diffraction profiles have been fitted assuming a Lorentzian dependence on the exchanged momentum. As a result, we observe an anomalous behavior of the diffracted intensity that tends to disappear, increasing either the pressure or the temperature. This effect is discussed in detail and imputed to the ability of hydrostatic pressure to weaken hydrogen bonds.
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