It used to be a scientific fact that water molecules are found in three states: solid, liquid, gas. But now scientists from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have found a new state of water molecules.
Experiments conducted by the team showed that water molecules are able to “tunnel” in extremely tiny hexagonal channels of the mineral beryl. The molecules scattered around a ring and formed a shape similar to a unique double top. In short, water takes on a new form entirely when trapped in extremely confined spaces.
The experiments, conducted at ORNL’s Spallation Neutron Source and the Rutherford Appleton Library in the United Kingdom, made use of computational modeling and neutron scattering to show this “tunneling” behavior. The scientists said their findings came about while they were looking at how water behaves in cell walls, soil and rocks – all tightly confined spaces.
The discovery came as a surprise to the researchers, as it defied current laws of fundamental physics regarding water’s gas, liquid and solid states. Prior to this discovery, this behavior was thought to exist only in quantum mechanics.
Alexander Kolesnikov, lead author of the study, says,
At low temperatures, this tunneling water exhibits quantum motion through the separating potential walls, which is forbidden in the classical world.
He continues, “This means that the oxygen and hydrogen atoms of the water molecule are ‘delocalized’ and therefore simultaneously present in all six symmetrically equivalent positions in the channel at the same time. It’s one of those phenomena that only occur in quantum mechanics and has no parallel in our everyday experience.”
Kolesnikov and his team’s discovery is expected to help scientists better understand the thermodynamic properties of water in confined environments. Lawrence Anovitz, co-author of the study, notes that these findings will also start a discussion among other scientists in various fields as they attempt to look into this phenomenon and apply it to their own material sciences.
The study was published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
