Water (H2O) is the
third most common molecule in the Universe (after Hydrogen and Carbon
dioxide), the most abundant substance on earth and the only naturally
occurring inorganic liquid. Water molecules ionize endo-thermically
due to electric field fluctuations caused by nearby dipole resulting
from thermal effects; a process that is facilitated by exciting the
Hydroxyl Ions which may separate but normally recombine within a few
femto seconds. Rarely (about once every eleven hours per molecule at
25°C, or less than once a week at 0°C) the localized hydrogen bonding
arrangement breaks before allowing the separated ions to return and
the pair of ions (H+, OH-) hydrate independently and continue their
separate existence for about 70 ms. As this brief period is much
longer than the timescales encountered during investigations into
water’s hydration properties, water is usually treated as a permanent
structure.
Hydrogen bonding
occurs when an atom of hydrogen is attracted by rather strong forces
to two atoms instead of only one, so that it may be considered to be
acting as a bond between them. In water the hydrogen atom is
covalently attached to the oxygen of a water molecule (about 492 kJ
mol-1 but has an additional attraction (about 23.3 kJ mol-1 to a
neighboring oxygen atom of another water molecule (about 1.3 kJ
mol-1). Whilst the molecular movements within water require the
constant breaking and reorganization of individual hydrogen bonds on a
pico second timescale, it is theorized that the instantaneous degree
of bonding is very high (>95%, at about 0°C to about 85% at 100°C and
gives rise to extensive networks, aided by bonding cooperatively.
There is likely to be a temperature-dependent competition between the
ordering effects of hydrogen bonding and the disordering kinetic
effects.
The hydrogen bonding
patterns are random in water; for any water molecule chosen at random,
there is equal probability (50%) that the four hydrogen bonds (i.e.
the two hydrogen donors and the two hydrogen acceptors) are located at
any of the four sites around the oxygen. Water molecules surrounded by
four hydrogen bonds tend to clump together, forming clusters, for both
statistical and energetic reasons. Hydrogen bonded chains (i.e.
O-H····O-H····O) are cooperative; the breakage of the first bond is
the hardest, and then the next one is weakened, and so on. Thus
unzipping may occur with complex macromolecules held together by
hydrogen bonding, e.g. nucleic acids. A strong base at the end of a
chain may strengthen the bonding further. The cooperative nature of
the hydrogen bond means that acting as an acceptor strengthens the
water molecule acting as a donor. However, there is an
anti-cooperative aspect in so far as acting as a donor weakens the
capability to act as another donor, e.g. O····H-O-H····O. It is clear
therefore that a water molecule with two hydrogen bonds where it acts
as both donor and acceptor is somewhat stabilized relative to one
where it is either the donor or acceptor of two. Breaking one bond
weakens those around whereas making one bond strengthens those around
and this, therefore, encourages larger clusters, for the same average
bond density. However, this bonding sequence is interrupted by the
strong electro magnetic field generated by EcoBeam
XL wherein
not only the larger molecular structures of up to 300 molecules
containing dissolved solids break into smaller ones but also create
ions that result in pure water molecular clusters that reject
dissolved solids. Weak hydrogen-bonding surfaces restrict the
hydrogen-bonding potential of adjacent water so that these make fewer
and weaker hydrogen bonds. As hydrogen bonds strengthen each other in
a cooperative manner, such weak bonding also persists over several
layers and causes locally changed solvency. Hydrogen bonding carries
information about solutes and surfaces over significant distances in
liquid water. In case of EcoBeam
XL it
is likely to last beyond 72 hours unless no major changes are brought
in the equilibrium through turbulence. In high temperature, the
precipitation of dissolved solids is accelerated. It is this complex
process that plays a role in altering the crystalline behavior of
dissolved solids, prevention of scale and corrosion in water systems,
better hydration and solvency of drinking water, enhanced infra red
permeability, better heat exchange, less surface tension, lower
working pressures for membranes and long life of reverse osmosis
systems.
Cations may induce
strong cooperative hydrogen bonding around them due to the
polarization of water O-H by cation-lone pair interactions (Cation+····O-H····O-H).
Total hydrogen bonding around ions may be disrupted however as if the
electron pair acceptance increases (e.g. in water around cations) so
the electron pair donating power of these water molecules is reduced;
with opposite effects in the hydration water around anions. These
changes, in the relative hydration ability of salt solutions are
responsible for the swelling and de-swelling behavior of hydrophilic
polymer gels. Additional ions created through EcoBeam
XL makes
ion exchange systems more efficient with lesser contact times.
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