Dr. Byung Kim (Faculty) recently published in the journal Langmuir regarding self-assembled water chains. “Coil-to-Bridge Transitions of Self-Assembled Water Chains Observed in a Nanoscopic Meniscus” describes the structures and behaviors of water confined between two surfaces in ambient environments. The abstract is stated below.
“Ten downward portions in the large oscillatory force–distance curve reported earlier are analyzed to understand a nanoscale water meniscus confined between a sharp probe and a flat substrate in air. The sigmoidal shape of each portion leads to the assumption that the meniscus is made up of n independent transitions of two states: one for a coil state and the other for a bridge state. The analysis reveals that each downward portion occurs due to a coil-to-bridge transition of n self-assembled water chains whose length ranges between 197 and 383 chain units. The transition provides novel insights into water’s unique properties like high surface tension and the long-range condensation distances.”