{"id":103858,"date":"2025-07-30T04:18:07","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T04:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/103858\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T04:18:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T04:18:07","slug":"physicists-explain-previously-unknown-microscopic-mechanism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/103858\/","title":{"rendered":"Physicists explain previously unknown microscopic mechanism"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Physicists<\/p>\n

Credit: ACS Nano (2025). DOI: 10.1021\/acsnano.5c05845<\/p>\n

Physicists at Osnabr\u00fcck University have examined individual water molecules on the calcite surface in more detail. Their findings, published<\/a> in the journal ACS Nano, are relevant for climate and environmental protection.<\/p>\n

Calcite is one of the most common minerals on Earth and plays a central role in natural and technical processes. “By understanding how water interacts with the calcite<\/a> surface, we can better answer important scientific and socially relevant questions\u2014from climate protection and environmental protection<\/a> to the development of new materials,” explains Osnabr\u00fcck physicist Dr. Philipp Rahe.<\/p>\n

Using a particularly sensitive technique, high-resolution atomic force microscopy<\/a>, the Osnabr\u00fcck researchers have succeeded in imaging the arrangement and orientation of individual water molecules<\/a> on the surface of calcite. To do this, an atomically sharp tip with a single carbon monoxide molecule attached to its end point is brought close to the water-covered calcite surface.<\/p>\n

The force acting on this tip is caused very locally and enables measurements with extremely high sensitivity and resolution on a subatomic scale. These forces are mapped by scanning the surface line by line, thereby creating an image of the atomic structure.<\/p>\n

“During the experiments on individual water molecules, we observed very early on that there appear to be two types of water molecules on the calcite surface. This was astonishing, as no difference between these water molecules had previously been observed in the literature in a closed water layer,” says Dr. Rahe, in whose junior research group “Molecular Quantum Structures” at the School of Physics the experiments were carried out.<\/p>\n

“We first had to carry out some developments in preliminary experiments, such as a special sample holder and special measurement protocols, in order to be able to carry out these investigations of individual water molecules,” adds Dr. Jonas Heggemann, the first author of the study.<\/p>\n

\"Physicists<\/p>\n

Dr. Philipp Rahe (left) and Dr. Jonas Heggemann in front of the scanning probe microscope. Credit: Vivienne Vent<\/p>\n

Dr. Rahe and his team recently clarified the structure of the calcite surface and identified a surface reconstruction, i.e., a rearrangement of the atoms in the uppermost layer of the surface. This reconstruction results in two different positions where water can bind to the surface.<\/p>\n

“The amazing thing about this system is that the water cancels out the difference between these two positions, it literally pulls on part of the surface atoms,” explains Dr. Rahe. In collaboration with Prof. Adam Foster and Jie Huang from the University of Aalto in Finland, this process was precisely understood in the current study using ab-initio simulations.<\/p>\n

While the binding of water at the first position is accompanied by only a minimal change in the surface, at the second position the surface atoms move from the reconstructed structure back to the original crystal structure. This process is caused by a single water molecule and requires energy. Therefore, water binds differently to these two positions, although the local geometry is identical.<\/p>\n

More information:<\/strong>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJonas Heggemann et al, Sidestepping Intermolecular Hydrogen Bonds: How Single Water Molecules Adsorb and Assemble on the Calcite(104)\u2013(2 \u00d7 1) Surface, ACS Nano (2025). DOI: 10.1021\/acsnano.5c05845<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tProvided by
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOsnabr\u00fcck University<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCitation<\/strong>:
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhysicists explain previously unknown microscopic mechanism (2025, July 29)
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tretrieved 30 July 2025
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfrom https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-07-physicists-previously-unknown-microscopic-mechanism.html\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
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