Anomalous water-Properties and factors affecting its yield

Anomalous water and the residue left when it is evacuated-"polywater"-has been prepared in fine capillaries and on quartz plates. Its properties have been examined and the factors affecting its yield explored. Yields of capillary-grown material are erratic. Thermal expansion and freezing data suggest similarity of this material to that reported in the Russian literature. A new result is that "polywater" contracts on solidification. This material is shown to decompose only slowly (within hours) at 650°C, and rather rapidly at 750°C. It is involatile at room temperature and survives mechanical displacement. It is deliquescent. Two factors have been shown to be important for determining the yield of anomalous water: the state of the glass surface and the instability of the vapor-surface environment. Hydrated surfaces give higher yields than surfaces partially dehydrated by heating. This result accounts for the variable and poor yields in as-drawn capillaries. Chemical surface treatments to modify the distribution of silanol groups on the surface have a profound effect on "polywater" yields. A strong maximum in yield is associated with a surface treated to contain only vicinal OH's. Experiments with crystalline quartz and Na+-implanted silica are also reported. Instabilities in the vapor-solid environment lead to sharply increased yields of anomalous water in capillaries. Pyrex capillaries are much more effective than quartz. It is shown that the product does not arise from impurities carried into the capillaries by creep of a liquid film from the water source over the surface of the cell. Rather, it results from a vapor-capillary reaction. © 1971.

Duke Scholars

Author F. Hadley Cocks Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materia ...