Limit of metastability for liquid and vapor phases of water.
We report the limits of superheating of water and supercooling of vapor from Monte Carlo simulations using microscopic models with configurational enthalpy as the order parameter. The superheating limit is well reproduced. The vapor is predicted to undergo spinodal decomposition at a temperature of Tspvap=46±10 °C (0 °C≪Tspvap≪100 °C) under 1 atm. The water-water network begins to form at the supercooling limit of the vapor. Three-dimensional water-water and cavity-cavity unbroken networks are interwoven at critically superheated liquid water; if either network breaks, the metastable state changes to liquid or vapor.
Department of Chemistry, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan 689-798, Korea and Department of Chemistry, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 790-784, Korea.
Woo Jong
WJ
Cho
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA.
Jaegil
J
Kim
Department of Chemistry, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 790-784, Korea.
Joonho
J
Lee
Department of Chemistry, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
Thomas
T
Keyes
Department of Chemistry, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
John E
JE
Straub
Department of Chemistry, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan 689-798, Korea.
Kwang S
KS
Kim