SPECIAL EDITION
Water Structure
Water as a Microdispersed System. Water “Activation” Mechanism. Water Phases at Room Conditions
Yakhno TA1*, Yakhno VG1,2
1 Federal Research Center Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IAP RAS), Nizhny Novgorod 603950, Russia
2 N. I. Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod (National Research University), Nizhny Novgorod 603950, Russia
*Correspondence: yakhta13@gmail.com (TY); yakhno@appl.sci-nnov.ru (VY); Tel.: (011)-7-831-436-85-80 (TY and VY)
Keywords: water under optical microscope, water “activation” mechanism, water phases at room conditions
• Received: July 10, 2021
• Revised: October 27, 2021
• Accepted: November 15, 2021
• Published: April 25, 2022
Abstract
The review provides evidence that water of any degree of purification is a microdispersed system. The dispersed phase (DP) of liquid water is represented by hydrophilic particles (mainly NaCl microcrystals) covered with a liquid crystalline hydration shell. The size of DP particles, visible through an optical microscope, is a few microns. DP is prone to aggregation and forms large associates (tens to hundreds of microns in diameter) floating in continual bulk water. Water activation by any kind of physical impact is accompanied by the disaggregation of associates and an increase in the total area of the interphase surface. This naturally changes a number of physicochemical parameters of the system (pH, Redox Potential, viscosity, electrical conductivity). The effect was described many times in the literature, but had no scientific explanation within the framework of the classical theory of water structurization at the molecular level. From this point of view, the method of manual stirring of different hydrophilic surfaces with water is also considered. Based on the portrait similarity of the physicochemical properties of structured near-wall water with polywater described by Lippincott et al in 1969, the authors believe that under room conditions there are only two phases of water – continuous and polywater.
Highlights:
1. Water is a microdispersed system at any degree of purification.
2. The microdispersed phase is represented by hydrophilic particles (mainly NaCl microcrystals) covered with a liquid crystalline hydration shell.
3. Aggregation – disaggregation of the dispersed phase is accompanied by a change in the area of the interphase surface. This entails a change in the physicochemical state of the system.
4. Under room conditions, there are two phases of water – ordinary continuous water and structured polywater near hydrophilic surfaces.
Read: Full Text | PDF | Special Edition