Episode 23: Interfacial effects dominate 2D water structure until angstrom-level confinement

In this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Mischa Bonn, director of the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Germany and Dr. Yongkang Wang, group leader affiliated with the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research as well as Southeast University in Nanjing, China about their research on nanoconfined water. The researchers determined that interfacial rather than nanoconfinement effects govern water structure at the eight Ångstrom level. At five Ångstroms, nanoconfinement effects start to appear with the water molecules starting to lie flat, parallel to the interfaces, and the hydrogen bonding network beginning to weaken. The results may lead to a better understanding of nanofluidic devices, and have implications for desalination, water purification, and hydrogen generation.This work was published in a recent issue of Nature Communications.