Supercooled water. Considerations about the system organization of liquid water

Abstract

Supercooled water shows increasing values in heat capacity, free energy difference (in relation to ice) and compressibility as the temperature is lowered, whereas the density is decreased. After careful consideration of the boundary conditions, as they are required for the preparation of supercooled water, the reorganizations within the liquid were investigated and the changes in differentiations examined. Different groups of water molecules are distinguished, namely those at the interface, around dissolved gas molecules, around hydrophilic solutes and the vast majority of the remaining water molecules. It is emphasized that all of these groups are required for the existence of liquid water. Their continuous interrelations are described by the introduction of “hierarchic levels”, as they are characteristic for a system organization.