Related papers: How water binds to microcline feldspar (001)
The distinctive characteristics of water, evident in its thermodynamic anomalies, have implications across disciplines from biology to geophysics. Considered a valid hypothesis to rationalize its unique properties, a liquid-liquid phase…
The knowledge of the binding energy of molecules on astrophysically relevant ices can help to obtain an estimate of the desorption rate, i.e. the molecules residence time on the surface. This represents an important parameter for…
The dynamics of hydrogen bonds among water molecules themselves and with the polar head groups (PHG) at a micellar surface have been investigated by long molecular dynamics simulations. The lifetime of the hydrogen bond between a PHG and a…
Water ice is abundant both astrophysically, for example in molecular clouds, and in planetary systems. The Kuiper belt objects, many satellites of the outer solar system, the nuclei of comets and some planetary rings are all known to be…
Since air-water and water-air interfaces are equally refractive, cloud droplets and microbubbles dispersed in bodies of water reflect sunlight in much the same way. The lifetime of sunlight-reflecting microbubbles, and hence the scale on…
In$_2$O$_3$-based catalysts have shown high activity and selectivity for CO$_2$ hydrogenation to methanol, however the origin of the high performance of In$_2$O$_3$ is still unclear. To elucidate the initial steps of CO$_2$ hydrogenation…
Magnetorheological fluids consist of micrometer-sized magnetic particles in a carrier liquid. Sufficiently strong external magnetic fields lead to the formation of string-like particle aggregates. We demonstrate that hydrodynamic…
Skins of water and ice share the same attribute of supersolidity characterized by the identical H-O vibration frequency of 3450 cm-1. Molecular undercoordination and inter-electron-pair repulsion shortens the H-O bond and lengthen the O:H…
First-principle density-functional calculations have been applied to study the interaction of molecular chlorine with the (111) plane of copper. Using transition-state search method, we considered the elementary processes (Cl$_2$…
Nanoconfined water plays a key role in nanofluidics, electrochemistry, and catalysis, yet its reactivity remains a matter of debate. Prior studies have reported both enhanced and suppressed water self-dissociation relative to the bulk, but…
Small hydrocarbons are an important organic reservoir in protostellar and protoplanetary environments. Constraints on desorption temperatures and binding energies of such hydrocarbons are needed for accurate predictions of where these…
Liquids under confinement differ in behavior from their bulk counterparts and can acquire properties that are specific to the confined phase and linked to the nature and structure of the host matrix. While confined liquid water is not a new…
Collisions of ice particles play an important role in the formation of planetesimals and comets. In recent work we showed, that CO$_2$ ice behaves like silicates in collisions. The resulting assumption was that it should therefore stick…
The influence of microstructure on thermoelectricity is increasingly recognized. Approaches for microstructural engineering can hence be exploited to enhance thermoelectric performance, particularly through manipulating crystalline defects,…
We apply a phenomenological theory of polar liquids to calculate the interaction energy between two plane surfaces at nm-distances. We show that depending on the properties of the surface-liquid interfaces, the interacting surfaces induce…
We demonstrate that Casimir-Polder energies between noble gas atoms (dissolved in water) and oil-water interfaces are highly surface specific. Both repulsion (e.g. hexane) and attraction (e.g. glycerine and cyclodecane) is found with…
Hierarchical self-assembly consisting of local associations of simple building-blocks for the formation of complex structures widely exists in nature, while the essential role of local assembly remains unknown. In this work, by using…
The adsorption of volatile molecules onto dust grain surfaces fundamentally influences dust-related processes, including condensation of gas-phase molecules, dust coagulation, and planet formation in protoplanetary disks. Using advanced…
Volatility-dependent fractionation of the rock-forming elements at high temperatures is an early, widespread process during formation of the earliest solids in protoplanetary disks. Equilibrium condensation calculations allow prediction of…
The crystallinity of water ice not only records the thermal history experienced by an astronomical body, but also affects the composition of forming planets by controlling the trapping of volatile materials in amorphous ice and their…