Here we show that by adjusting the concentration of tetrabutyl ammonium and phosphonium salts in water (% 1.5-2.0 m), hydrophobic solvation triggers the formation of a unique, highly incompressible supramolecular liquid, with a dynamic structure similar to clathrates, involving essentially all H 2 O molecules of the solvent. Despite the increasing local order, the thermal diffusivity, and compressibility of these supramolecular liquids is strongly decreased with respect to bulk water due to slower relaxation dynamics. The results presented in this paper open an avenue to design a new family of supramolecular fluids, stable under atmospheric conditions, which can find important technological applications in energy storage and conversion. Dissolving small non (or moderate)-polar molecules in water induces the formation of local ice-like structures around them. [1-4] Above a certain concentration of the solute, and under conditions of high pressure and low temperature, these host-guest hydrates can form crystalline solids, so-called clathrate hydrates, a vast class of materials with important applications in gas separation, storage and transportation. [5-7] When the host molecule takes part within the multi-polyhedral structure of hydrogen-bonded water, semi-clathrate hydrates are formed. This is the case for tetrabutyl ammonium bromide (TtBABr) and other quaternary ammonium salts, in which the anions incorporate into
The interaction of water with small alcohols can be used as a model for understanding hydrophobic solvation of larger and more complex amphiphilic molecules. Despite its apparent simplicity, water/ethanol mixtures...
Die dynamische Struktur von flüssigem Wasser kann durch die Anwesenheit von unpolaren organischen Molekülen gestört werden, in einem Prozess, der als hydrophobe Solvatation bekannt ist. Maria Giménez‐López, Francisco Rivadulla et al. zeigen in ihrer Zuschrift auf S. 7618, dass die spezifische Ausrichtung der Kohlenwasserstoffketten in Tetraalkylammonium‐ und Phosphoniumsalzen eine eigentümliche Struktur der Wassermoleküle hervorruft, die sich von der Volumenphase unterscheidet und die physikochemischen Eigenschaften verändert.
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