Abstract
Intermolecular hydrogen bonds impede long-range (anti-)ferroelectric order of water. We confine H2O molecules in nanosized cages formed by ions of a dielectric crystal. Arranging them in channels at a distance of ~5 Å with an interchannel separation of ~10 Å prevents the formation of hydrogen networks while electric dipole-dipole interactions remain effective. Here, we present measurements of the temperature-dependent dielectric permittivity, pyrocurrent, electric polarization and specific heat that indicate an order-disorder ferroelectric phase transition at T0 ≈ 3 K in the water dipolar lattice. Ab initio molecular dynamics and classical Monte Carlo simulations reveal that at low temperatures the water molecules form ferroelectric domains in the ab-plane that order antiferroelectrically along the channel direction. This way we achieve the long-standing goal of arranging water molecules in polar order. This is not only of high relevance in various natural systems but might open an avenue towards future applications in biocompatible nanoelectronics.
Highlights
Intermolecular hydrogen bonds impede long-rangeferroelectric order of water
It is suggested that the so-called water ferroelectricity can exist in various natural systems where the role of H-bonds for intermolecular coupling is diminished due to a preferred orientation of water molecules imposed by the host frameworks, creating conditions favorable for mutual aligning the H2O molecular dipoles
Of special interest is the potential ordering of water molecules in biological systems, where the H2O molecules are found in fully or partially confined states in cells, membrane channels, and proteins hydration shells[5,6,7,8], which can influence the functioning of living organisms substantially
Summary
Intermolecular hydrogen bonds impede long-range (anti-)ferroelectric order of water. We confine H2O molecules in nanosized cages formed by ions of a dielectric crystal. It is suggested that the so-called water ferroelectricity can exist in various natural systems where the role of H-bonds for intermolecular coupling is diminished due to a preferred orientation of water molecules imposed by the host frameworks, creating conditions favorable for mutual aligning the H2O molecular dipoles This can be realized when water molecules are adsorbed by two-dimensional interfaces or confined in nanosized channels or cages. Due to quantum tunneling of the dipoles in the symmetric six-well localizing potential of the hexagonal beryl lattice[52] no phase transition into a macroscopically ordered phase occurs In this communication, we present our studies of the dielectric response, pyrocurrent and specific heat of an array of separate H2O molecules confined within ionic matrix of the orthorhombic cordierite crystal lattice, and supplement our experimental data with Density Functional Theory Molecular Dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations. In the ground state the water molecules form ferroelectric domains in the ab-plane that order antiferroelectrically along the channel direction
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