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VOLUME 94 (2011) | ISSUE 5 |
PAGE 433
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Experimental evidence of the ferroelectric nature of the λ-point transition in liquid water
P. O. Fedichev, L. I. Menshikov°, G. S. Bordonskiy, A. O. Orlov
Quantum Pharmaceuticals, 125171 Moscow, Russia °NRC "Kurchatov Institute", 123182 Moscow, Russia Institute of Natural Resources, Ecology and Cryology SB RAS, 672000 Chita, Russia
Abstract
We studied the dielectric properties of nano-sized liquid water samples
confined in polymerized silicates MCM-41 characterized by pore sizes
3-10 nm. Freezing temperature suppression in nanopores helps keep
the water samples in liquid form at temperatures well below 0 °C
and thus effectively study the properties of supercooled liquid water.
We report the first direct measurements of the dielectric constant
by the dielectric spectroscopy method and demonstrate very clear signatures
of the second-order phase transition of ferroelectric nature at temperatures
next to the λ-point in the supercooled bulk water in full
agreement with the recently developed model of the polar liquid.
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