Abstract
Mechanical properties of nanoconfined water layers are still poorly understood and continue to create controversy, despite their importance for biology and nanotechnology. We report on dynamic nanomechanical measurements of water films compressed to a few single molecular layers. We show that the mechanical properties of nanoconfined water layers change significantly with their dynamic state. In particular, we observed a sharp transition from viscous to elastic response even at extremely slow compression rates, indicating that mechanical relaxation times increase dramatically once water is compressed to less than 3–4 molecular layers.
- Received 16 June 2010
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.106101
© 2010 The American Physical Society
Viewpoint
Confined liquid controversies near closure?
Published 30 August 2010
New experiments resolve differences in measuring the viscosity of liquids confined to thin films at the molecular level.
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