Thermal Motion in Water + Electrolyte Solutions According to Quasi-Elastic Incoherent Neutron Scattering Data

Abstract

The main attention of this article is focused on the study of the physical mechanisms of thermal motion in water and water + electrolyte solutions that lead to the broadening of the incoherent neutron scattering peak. It is taken into account that the neutron peak has a diffusion nature and is described by a Lorentzian line shape only for wave vectors k having magnitudes |k| ≡ k ≪ 1/a, where a is the interparticle spacing. A modified version of the theory developed by Singwi and Sjolander (Phys. Rev. 1960, 119, 863) for the description of the Lorentzian half-width is proposed. It is shown that for k > 1/a, the neutron peak is described by a Gaussian line shape whose half-width is proportional to the average thermal velocity of the Lagrange particles. The relevant theoretical parameters can be determined by fitting experimental data for the half-width of the neutron peak. In such a way, the self-diffusion coefficients of water molecules, their collective parts, and the residence times as well as the radii ...