Effect of pressure on the anomalous response functions of a confined water monolayer at low temperature

Abstract

We study a coarse-grained model for a water monolayer that cannot crystallize due to the presence of confining interfaces, such as protein powders or inorganic surfaces. Using both Monte Carlo simulations and mean field calculations, we calculate three response functions: the isobaric specific heat C(P), the isothermal compressibility K(T), and the isobaric thermal expansivity α(P). At low temperature T, we find two distinct maxima in C(P), K(T), and ∣α(P)∣, all converging toward a liquid-liquid critical point (LLCP) with increasing pressure P. We show that the maximum in C(P) at higher T is due to the fluctuations of hydrogen (H) bond formation and that the second maximum at lower T is due to the cooperativity among the H bonds. We discuss a similar effect in K(T) and ∣α(P)∣. If this cooperativity were not taken into account, both the lower-T maximum and the LLCP would disappear. However, comparison with recent experiments on water hydrating protein powders provides evidence for the existence of the lower-T maximum, supporting the hypothesized LLCP at positive P and finite T. The model also predicts that when P moves closer to the critical P the C(P) maxima move closer in T until they merge at the LLCP. Considering that other scenarios for water are thermodynamically possible, we discuss how an experimental measurement of the changing separation in T between the two maxima of C(P) as P increases could determine the best scenario for describing water.