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Updated: Jan 23, 2026

High-Resolution Neutron Spectroscopy to Study Picosecond-Nanosecond Dynamics of Proteins and Hydration Water
Published on: April 28, 2022
Water dynamics in the hydration shells of biological and non-biological polymers
Silvina Cerveny1, Jan Swenson2
1Centro de Física de Materiales (CSIC-UPV/EHU)-Material Physics Centre (MPC), Paseo Manuel de Lardizabal 5, 20018 San Sebastián, Spain.
Abstract:
The dynamics of water at supercooled temperatures in aqueous solutions of different types of solutes has been deeply analyzed in the literature. In these previous works and in most of the cases, a single relaxation of water molecules is observed. In this work, we analyze the dynamics of water in solutions for which a dual relaxation of water molecules is experimentally measured. We discuss the criteria for observing these two water relaxations in these specific solutions and their most likely origins. We also discuss how these two water relaxations relate to the relaxation behavior of bulk water and how the slower one is coupled to the solute dynamics and is essential for the dynamics and functional properties of proteins.
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