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Updated: Jun 4, 2026

Controlling the Size, Shape and Stability of Supramolecular Polymers in Water
Published on: August 2, 2012
Structural properties of high and low density water in a supercooled aqueous solution of salt
D Corradini1, M Rovere, P Gallo
1Dipartimento di Fisica, Università Roma Tre, Via della Vasca Navale 84, I-00146 Roma, Italy.
Abstract:
We consider and compare the structural properties of bulk TIP4P water and of a sodium chloride aqueous solution in TIP4P water with concentration c = 0.67 mol/kg, in the metastable supercooled region. In a previous paper (Corradini, D.; Rovere, M.; Gallo, P. J. Chem. Phys. 2010, 132, 134508) we found in both systems the presence of a liquid-liquid critical point (LLCP). The LLCP is believed to be the end point of the coexistence line between a high density liquid (HDL) and a low density liquid (LDL) phase of water. In the present paper we study the different features of water-water structure in HDL and LDL both in bulk water and in the solution. We find that the ions are able to modify the bulk LDL structure, rendering water-water structure more similar to the bulk HDL case. By the study of the hydration structure in HDL and LDL, a possible mechanism for the modification of the bulk LDL structure in the solution is identified in the substitution of the oxygen by the chloride ion in oxygen coordination shells.
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