title: Water diffusion in amorphous hydrophilic systems: a stop and go process.
abstract: The diffusion of H2O in three amorphous polymer-H2O systems is studied as a function of H2O content using molecular dynamics. A picture of H2O molecule motion comprising alternating steps of being bound at an adsorption site ("stop") and moving ("go") emerges. This picture is made quantitative. The bound time, frequency of stop-go steps, and tortuosity all decrease with H2O content. Fourier analysis of particle motion during bound time segments provides a measure of an attempt frequency that is connected quantitatively to the bound time and an activation energy of a hydrogen bond. For increasing H2O content, the polymer-H2O systems swell, leading to an increase in the diffusion coefficient and porosity and a decrease in activation energy.
authors.affiliation: Chair of Building Physics, Swiss Federal University of Technology ETH Zurich , Stefano-Franscini-Platz 5, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.|Laboratory for Multiscale Studies in Building Physics, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology Empa , Überlandstrasse 129, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Karol
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kulasinski
authors.affiliation: Solid Earth Geophysics Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory , MS D446, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, United States.|Department of Physics, University of Nevada , Reno, Nevada 89557, United States.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guyer
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Multiscale Studies in Building Physics, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology Empa , Überlandstrasse 129, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Derome
authors.affiliation: Chair of Building Physics, Swiss Federal University of Technology ETH Zurich , Stefano-Franscini-Platz 5, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.|Laboratory for Multiscale Studies in Building Physics, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology Empa , Überlandstrasse 129, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Carmeliet