Polyamorphism in water.
Water, the most common and important liquid, has peculiar properties like the density maximum at 4 degrees C. Such properties are thought to stem from complex changes in the bonding-network structure of water molecules. And yet we cannot understand water. The discovery of the high-density amorphous ice (HDA) in 1984 and the discovery of the apparently discontinuous change in volume of amorphous ice in 1985 indicated experimentally clearly the existence of two kinds of disordered structure (polyamorphism) in a one-component condensed-matter system. This fact has changed our viewpoint concerning water and provided a basis for a new explanation; when cooled under pressure, water would separate into two liquids. The peculiar properties of water would be explained by the existence of the separation point: the liquid-liquid critical point (LLCP). Presently, accumulating evidences support this hypothesis. Here, I describe the process of my experimental studies from the discovery of HDA to the search for LLCP together with my thoughts which induced these experiments.
Mishima
Osamu
O
National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan. MISHIMA.osamu@nims.go.jp
D001274:Atmospheric Pressure; D003460:Crystallization; D007053:Ice; D044366:Transition Temperature; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
D007053:Ice; D014867:Water