Berlin 2015 – scientific programme

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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik

CPP 48: P13: Charged Soft Matter

CPP 48.1: Poster

Wednesday, March 18, 2015, 10:00–13:00, Poster A

Dynamics of the Hydrogen Bond Network of Water — •Miriam Jahn and Stephan Gekle — University of Bayreuth, Germany

The special properties of liquid water originate from the presence of hydrogen bonds that link the molecules in a preferably tetrahedral arrangement. An evidence of the resulting real network structure is the occurrence of loops of hydrogen bonds. Six and seven-membered loops appear most frequently. As the binding energy amounts to few k_B T this network is highly transient.

Using molecular dynamics simulations of bulk water we analyze the dynamics of the network. Based on the assumption that every hydrogen bond is subject to the same molecular rearrangement processes, loops are expected to be more fragile the more hydrogen bonds they contain. This tendency proves to be true except for three and four-membered loops which are unexpectedly short-lived. We find that loops of five, six or seven molecules experience some stabilization that leads to a longer lifespan than indicated by the same number of randomly grouped hydrogen bonds.