Ionic partition between surface and bulk water in a silica gel. A biological model

Distribution of the biologically important ions between two aqueous phases of different structure has been used as a model for ionic distribution in living tissue. When other sources of specificity had been eliminated or corrected for, surface-oriented water in a silica gel was found to have increased solvent power for water-structure-breaking ions and decreased solvent power for water-structure-making ions; and the relative solubility of an ion in the phase of enhanced structure increased regularly with the water-structure-breaking powers of the ion. The ionic selectivity was decreased in the presence of urea. The selectivity of the gel water for potassium relative to sodium increased to a maximum when the gel surface was partially ionized so that distribution of cations was not linked to distribution of anions, and then decreased as the surface changed from a hydrogen bonding to an ionic surface. It is pointed out that the distribution of ions across most living cell membranes is qualitatively the same as that found in this silica gel, and it is suggested that the membrane separates two aqueous phases of different structure, and that the enhanced structure of cell water contributes to the observed ionic distributions.