Related papers: How water binds to microcline feldspar (001)
Plateaus in water adsorption isotherms on hydroxylated BeO surfaces suggest significant differences between the hydroxylated (100) and (001) surface structures and reactivities. Density functional theory structures and energies clarify…
We have investigated the dynamics of water confined in mesostructured porous silicas (SBA-15, MCM-41) and four periodic mesoporous organosilicas (PMOs) by dielectric relaxation spectroscopy. The influence of water-surface interaction has…
The interfacial structure and dynamics of water in a microscopically confined geometry is imaged in three dimensions and on millisecond time scales. We developed a 3D wide-field second harmonic microscope that employs structured…
The contact of water with graphene is of fundamental importance and of great interest for numerous promising applications, but how graphene interacts with water remains unclear. Here we used atomic force microscopy to investigate…
Organosulfur species are potential major carriers of sulfur in the interstellar medium, as well as interesting ingredients in prebiotic chemistry. The most fundamental question regarding these species is under which conditions they reside…
Controlled crystallization, melting and vitrification are important fundamental processes in nature and technology. However, the microscopic details of these fundamental phenomena still lack understanding, in particular how the cooling rate…
Weakly bound, physisorbed hydrocarbons could in principle provide a similar water-repellency as obtained by chemisorption of strongly bound hydrophobic molecules at surfaces. Here we present experiments and computer simulations on the…
A single water molecule has nothing special. However, macroscopic water displays many anomalous properties at the interface, such as a high surface tension, hydrophobicity and hydrophillicity. Although the underlying mechanism is still…
The crystalline structure of minerals due to the highly ordered assembly of its constituent atoms, ions or molecules confers a considerable hardness and brittleness to the materials. As a result, they are generally subject to fracture. Here…
We investigate the behavior of hydrated sulfonated polysulfones over a range of ion contents through differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations.…
Ion specificity and related Hofmeister effects, ubiquitous in aqueous systems, can have spectacular consequences in hydrated clays, where ion-specific nanoscale surface forces can determine large scale cohesive, swelling and shrinkage…
Despite all the efforts, there is no agreement on how temperature affects soil carbon decay and consequently soil CO2 emission, due to overlapping of environmental constraints. To gain further insight into the driving forces of soil…
Organic material in anoxic sediment represents a globally significant carbon reservoir that acts to stabilize Earth's atmospheric composition. The dynamics by which microbes organize to consume this material remain poorly understood. Here…
The interaction of water with Fe$_3$O$_4$(001) is studied by density functional theory (DFT) calculations including an on-site Coulomb term. For isolated molecules dissociative adsorption is strongly promoted at surface defect sites, while…
Context. Water together with O2 are important gas phase ingredients to cool dense gas in order to form stars. On dust grains, H2 O is an important constituent of the icy mantle in which a complex chemistry is taking place, as revealed by…
The peculiar structuring of liquid water stems from a fine-tuned molecular principle embodying the two different interaction demands of the water molecule: The formation of hydrogen bonds or the compensation for coordination defects. Here…
Cement is one of the most produced materials in the world. A major player in greenhouse gas emissions, it is the main binding agent in concrete, to which it provides a cohesive strength that rapidly increases during setting. Understanding…
Clay minerals are ubiquitous in nature, and the manner in which they interact with their surroundings has important industrial and environmental implications. Consequently, a molecular-level understanding of the adsorption of molecules on…
Layered transition metal trichalcogenides MPX$_3$ (M: transition metal; X: S, Se) demonstrate a wide spectrum of properties and are widely proposed as effective materials for the water splitting reactions. Among these materials, NiPX$_3$…
The key kinetic barrier to dolomite formation is related to the surface Mg2+-H2O complex, which hinders binding of surface Mg2+ ions to the CO3 2- ions in solution. It has been proposed that this reaction can be catalyzed by dissolved…