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Water Polarization under Thermal Gradients

Fernando Bresme, Anders Lervik, Dick Bedeaux, and Signe Kjelstrup
Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 020602 – Published 9 July 2008
Physics logo See Synopsis: Polarization in hot water

Abstract

We investigate the response of bulk liquid water to a temperature gradient using nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. It is shown that the thermal gradient polarizes water in the direction of the gradient, leading to a non-negligible electrostatic field whose origin lies in the water reorientation under nonequilibrium conditions. The dependence of the magnitude of the electrostatic field with the temperature gradient is in agreement with nonequilibrium thermodynamics theory. We conclude that temperature gradients of the order of 108K/m could result in fairly large polarizations 106V/m.

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  • Received 28 March 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.020602

©2008 American Physical Society

Synopsis

Polarization in hot water

Published 21 July 2008

Molecular dynamics simulations show that thermal gradients – of order 1010 K over a meter - can polarize liquid water. The finding could have interesting implications for developing hyperthermal treatments that target cancer cells.

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Authors & Affiliations

Fernando Bresme1,2,*, Anders Lervik3,1, Dick Bedeaux2,3, and Signe Kjelstrup2,3

  • 1Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London SW7 2AZ, London, United Kingdom
  • 2Centre for Advanced Study at the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters, Oslo, Norway
  • 3Department of Chemistry, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

  • *f.bresme@imperial.ac.uk

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Issue

Vol. 101, Iss. 2 — 11 July 2008

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