Molecular polarizability anisotropy of liquid water revealed by terahertz-induced transient orientation

Peter Zalden (), Liwei Song, Xiaojun Wu, Haoyu Huang, Frederike Ahr, Oliver D. Mücke, Joscha Reichert, Michael Thorwart, Pankaj Kr. Mishra, Ralph Welsch, Robin Santra, Franz X. Kärtner and Christian Bressler
Additional contact information
Peter Zalden: University of Hamburg
Liwei Song: Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron
Xiaojun Wu: Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron
Haoyu Huang: Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron
Frederike Ahr: Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron
Oliver D. Mücke: University of Hamburg
Joscha Reichert: University of Hamburg
Michael Thorwart: University of Hamburg
Pankaj Kr. Mishra: University of Hamburg
Ralph Welsch: Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron
Robin Santra: University of Hamburg
Franz X. Kärtner: University of Hamburg
Christian Bressler: University of Hamburg

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Reaction pathways of biochemical processes are influenced by the dissipative electrostatic interaction of the reagents with solvent water molecules. The simulation of these interactions requires a parametrization of the permanent and induced dipole moments. However, the underlying molecular polarizability of water and its dependence on ions are partially unknown. Here, we apply intense terahertz pulses to liquid water, whose oscillations match the timescale of orientational relaxation. Using a combination of terahertz pump / optical probe experiments, molecular dynamics simulations, and a Langevin dynamics model, we demonstrate a transient orientation of their dipole moments, not possible by optical excitation. The resulting birefringence reveals that the polarizability of water is lower along its dipole moment than the average value perpendicular to it. This anisotropy, also observed in heavy water and alcohols, increases with the concentration of sodium iodide dissolved in water. Our results enable a more accurate parametrization and a benchmarking of existing and future water models.

Date: 2018
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-04481-5 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:9:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-018-04481-5

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04481-5

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().