Molecular insight into the hydrogen bonding and micro-segregation of a cryoprotectant molecule

Glycerol-water liquid mixtures are intriguing hydrogen-bonded systems and essential in many fields of chemistry, ranging from basic molecular research to widespread use in industrial and biomedical applications as cryoprotective solutions. Despite much research on these mixtures, the details of their microscopic structure are still not understood. One common notion is that glycerol acts to diminish the hydrogen bonding ability of water, a recurring hypothesis that remains untested by direct experimental approaches. The present work characterizes the structure of glycerol-water mixtures, across the concentration range, using a combination of neutron diffraction experiments and computational modeling. Contrary to previous expectations, we show that the hydrogen bonding ability of water is not diminished in the presence of glycerol. We show that glycerol-water hydrogen bonds effectively take the place of water-water hydrogen bonds, allowing water to maintain its full hydrogen bonding capacity regardless of the quantity of glycerol in the environment. We provide a quantitative measurement of all hydrogen bonding in the system and reveal a concentration range where a microsegregated, bipercolating liquid mixture exists in coexistence with a considerable interface region. This work highlights the role of hydrogen bonding connectivity rather than water structuring/destructuring effects in these important cryoprotective systems.