For years, scientists have been intrigued by the mystery of how exactly protons flow through water in an electric field. Scientists have some certainty now, more than 200 years after the last significant understanding of the phenomena.
Theodor Grotthuss proposed a theory regarding how a charge may move through a solution of water in 1806, which became known as the Grotthuss mechanism for "proton leaping."
Although Grotthuss's theory was incredibly innovative for its time—it was developed before protons or the real structure of water were even understood—modern scientists have long recognized that it didn't give a comprehensive explanation of what occurred at the molecular level.
The most recent research on the subject may have solved the puzzle by figuring out the enigmatic electrical structures of hydrated protons.
According to the research, protons flow through water in three-molecule "trains," with "tracks" being constructed in front of the train as it travels and pulled up after it has past.
Protons may travel through water forever through this loop. The answer put out by Grotthuss has been offered previously, but the current research, according to the study authors, assigns a different chemical structure that fits into the solution better.
Since this is one of the most fundamental problems in chemistry, discussions on the Grotthuss mechanism and the characteristics of proton solvation in water have become heated, according to chemist Ehud Pines from Israel's Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
Because it combines a theoretical strategy with practical research made feasible by recent technology advancements, the new study is appealing. To see how proton charges influenced the electrons in the single oxygen atoms of water, the researchers conducted an X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) experiment.
The influence was highest on three water molecules, as expected, however it varied for each molecule inside the trimeric cluster. The trios of molecules were discovered by researchers to create chains with the proton.
To assess the interactions between nearby water molecules and protons as protons flow through liquid, the researchers also used chemical simulations and computations at the quantum level.
Understanding this process, according to Pines, "pushes the limits of our knowledge and changes one of our basic understandings of one of nature's most significant mass and charge transport systems."
The finding has implications for several other chemical processes, including as photosynthesis, cellular respiration, and hydrogen fuel cell energy transmission.
Not just the answer, but also the procedure by which the researchers arrived at it, which included testing and confirming theoretical hypotheses against experimental findings and vice versa over the course of almost two decades, is noteworthy.
The fact that this issue has been debated for more than 200 years was enough of a hurdle for Pines to decide to tackle it. I am pleased to have likely discovered and proven the answer seventeen years later.
The study was published in the international edition of Angewandte Chemie.
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