ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Structure of water subjected to a static electric field

Abstract: The behavior of liquid water under an electric field is a crucial phenomenon in science and engineering. However, its detailed description at a microscopic level is still far from being complete.We have recently looked at the effect induced by a relatively modest static electric field on the water proton environment with a Deep Inelastic Neutron Scattering experiment on VESUVIO. This kind of experiment can provide information on the energy landscape felt by water protons, and in particular on the shape and relative amplitudes of the potential wells representing the covalent and hydrogen bond. Results obtained at 300 K suggest a delocalization of the proton over the two sites of this double well potential when the electric field is switched on. We would like to find out if the observed effect of the electric field on water proton environment has a counterpart on water structure.

Principal Investigator: Professor Fabio Bruni
Experimenter: Professor Maria Antonietta Ricci
Experimenter: Dr Alessandra Filabozzi
Experimenter: Dr Antonino Pietropaolo
Experimenter: Dr Daniele Colognesi
Local Contact: Dr Silvia Imberti

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1710117

ISIS Experiment Number: RB1710117

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
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Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Professor Fabio Bruni et al; (2017): Structure of water subjected to a static electric field , STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1710117

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.