Neutron diffraction studies of water in meso- and micro-pores

Abstract

Neutron diffraction studies have been made for D₂O water in two high surface area silica samples, Spherisorb and Gasil. The results show that the structural arrangement is similar to that of bulk water and that the modification due to the interface is restricted to a range of the order of 10 Å or less. Measurements also indicate that the dispersed water undergoes significant structural changes with temperature variation but the behaviour is similar to that of the bulk liquid. The differences observed in the diffraction patterns can be partially described in terms of diffraction broadening due to the small volume of the dispersed water, but there remains a significant variation which appears to be related to the hydrogen bonding interactions.