Chapter 11
Liquid Phase
Abstract Supersolidity of water ice, proposed in 2013 and intensively verified since
then, refers to those water molecules being polarized by molecular undercoordination
pertained to the skin of bulk water ice, nanobubbles, and nanodroplets (often called
confinement) or by electrostatic fields of ions in salt solutions or a capacitor. From the
perspective of hydrogen bond (O:H–O or HB with “:” being the lone pairs on O
2− )
cooperative relaxation and polarization, this section features the recent progress and
recommends future trends in understanding the bond-electron-phonon correlation in
the supersolid phase. The supersolidity is characterized by the shorter and stiffer H–
O bond and the longer and softer O:H nonbond, deeper O1s energy band, and longer
photoelectron and phonon lifetime. The supersolid phase is hydrophobic, less dense,
viscoelastic, mechanically and thermally more stable. The O:H–O bond cooperative
relaxation offsets boundaries of structural phases and raises the melting point and
meanwhile lowers the freezing and evaporating temperatures of water ice—known
as supercooling and superheating.
Highlights
• Molecular undercoordination and ionic hydration effect the same on O:H–O
relaxation.
• XPS O 1s and K–edge absorption energy shifts in proportional to the H–O bond
energy.
• Electron hydration probes the site– and size–resolved bounding energy and the
electron lifetime.
• DPS, SFG, and calculations confirm the site–resolved H–O contraction and thermal
stability.
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license
to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
C. Q. Sun, Electron and Phonon Spectrometrics,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3176-7_11
215
Liquid Phase
Abstract Supersolidity of water ice, proposed in 2013 and intensively verified since
then, refers to those water molecules being polarized by molecular undercoordination
pertained to the skin of bulk water ice, nanobubbles, and nanodroplets (often called
confinement) or by electrostatic fields of ions in salt solutions or a capacitor. From the
perspective of hydrogen bond (O:H–O or HB with “:” being the lone pairs on O
2− )
cooperative relaxation and polarization, this section features the recent progress and
recommends future trends in understanding the bond-electron-phonon correlation in
the supersolid phase. The supersolidity is characterized by the shorter and stiffer H–
O bond and the longer and softer O:H nonbond, deeper O1s energy band, and longer
photoelectron and phonon lifetime. The supersolid phase is hydrophobic, less dense,
viscoelastic, mechanically and thermally more stable. The O:H–O bond cooperative
relaxation offsets boundaries of structural phases and raises the melting point and
meanwhile lowers the freezing and evaporating temperatures of water ice—known
as supercooling and superheating.
Highlights
• Molecular undercoordination and ionic hydration effect the same on O:H–O
relaxation.
• XPS O 1s and K–edge absorption energy shifts in proportional to the H–O bond
energy.
• Electron hydration probes the site– and size–resolved bounding energy and the
electron lifetime.
• DPS, SFG, and calculations confirm the site–resolved H–O contraction and thermal
stability.
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license
to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
C. Q. Sun, Electron and Phonon Spectrometrics,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3176-7_11
215