Role of hydration and water structure in biological and colloidal interactions.
The conventional explanation of why hydrophilic surfaces and macromolecules remain well separated in water is that they experience a monotonically repulsive hydration force owing to structuring of water molecules at the surfaces. A consideration of recent experimental and theoretical results suggests an alternative interpretation in which hydration forces are either attractive or oscillatory, and where repulsions have a totally different origin. Further experiments are needed to distinguish between these possibilities.
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara 93106, USA.
J
J
Israelachvili
H
H
Wennerström
D012997:Solvents / Q000737:chemistry*; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D013499:Surface Properties; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
D012997:Solvents; D014867:Water