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Chiral Ordering in Supercooled Liquid Water and Amorphous Ice
Masakazu Matsumoto1, Takuma Yagasaki1, Hideki Tanaka1
1Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, 3-1-1 Tsushima, Okayama 700-8530, Japan.
Physical Review Letters
|November 21, 2015
Summary
Homochiral domains emerge in supercooled water due to molecular aggregation, creating stable, ordered structures. These domains contribute to water
Area of Science:
- Physical Chemistry
- Materials Science
Background:
- Individual water molecules lack chirality.
- Molecular aggregation can induce collective chirality.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the emergence of homochiral domains in supercooled liquid water.
- Understand the role of these domains in water's properties.
Main Methods:
- Utilized molecular dynamics simulations.
- Analyzed topological and geometrical orders of water aggregates.
Main Results:
- Homochiral domains exhibit significant topological and geometrical order.
- These domains are energetically more stable than disordered water.
- Icosahedral local order prevents macroscopic domain growth.
Conclusions:
- Homochiral domains are a major component of supercooled liquid water.
- They are the source of heterogeneity in supercooled water.
- Expected to be more prevalent in low-density amorphous ice at lower temperatures.
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