Does the Structural Water within Gypsum Remain Crystalline at the Aqueous Interface?

Solid-liquid interfaces are omnipresent in nature and technology. Processes occurring at the mineral-water interface are pivotal in geochemistry, biology, as well as in many technological areas. In this context, gypsum—the dihydrate of calcium sulfate—plays a prominent role due to its widespread dis...

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Main Authors: Söngen, H., Silvestri, A., Roshni, T., Klassen, S., Bechstein, R., Raiteri, Paolo, Gale, Julian, Kühnle, A.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: AMER CHEMICAL SOC 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FL180100087
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/91489
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author Söngen, H.
Silvestri, A.
Roshni, T.
Klassen, S.
Bechstein, R.
Raiteri, Paolo
Gale, Julian
Kühnle, A.
author_facet Söngen, H.
Silvestri, A.
Roshni, T.
Klassen, S.
Bechstein, R.
Raiteri, Paolo
Gale, Julian
Kühnle, A.
author_sort Söngen, H.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Solid-liquid interfaces are omnipresent in nature and technology. Processes occurring at the mineral-water interface are pivotal in geochemistry, biology, as well as in many technological areas. In this context, gypsum—the dihydrate of calcium sulfate—plays a prominent role due to its widespread distribution in the Earth’s crust and its manifold applications in technology. Despite this, many fundamental questions regarding the molecular-scale structure, including the fate of the crystal water molecules at the aqueous interface, remain poorly studied. Here, we present an atomic force microscopy (AFM) and molecular dynamics (MD) investigation to elucidate molecular-level details of the gypsum-water interface. Three-dimensional AFM data shed light into the hydration structure, revealing one water molecule per surface unit cell area in the lowest layer accessible to experiment. Comparing with simulation data suggests that the AFM tip does not penetrate into the surface-bound layer of crystal water. Instead, the first hydration water layer on top of the crystal water is mapped. Our findings indicate that the crystal water at the interface remains tightly bound, even when in contact with bulk water. Thus, the interfacial chemistry is governed by the crystal water rather than the calcium or sulfate ions.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-914892023-05-09T06:11:30Z Does the Structural Water within Gypsum Remain Crystalline at the Aqueous Interface? Söngen, H. Silvestri, A. Roshni, T. Klassen, S. Bechstein, R. Raiteri, Paolo Gale, Julian Kühnle, A. Science & Technology Physical Sciences Technology Chemistry, Physical Nanoscience & Nanotechnology Materials Science, Multidisciplinary Chemistry Science & Technology - Other Topics Materials Science SOLID-SURFACES BASSANITE DYNAMICS Solid-liquid interfaces are omnipresent in nature and technology. Processes occurring at the mineral-water interface are pivotal in geochemistry, biology, as well as in many technological areas. In this context, gypsum—the dihydrate of calcium sulfate—plays a prominent role due to its widespread distribution in the Earth’s crust and its manifold applications in technology. Despite this, many fundamental questions regarding the molecular-scale structure, including the fate of the crystal water molecules at the aqueous interface, remain poorly studied. Here, we present an atomic force microscopy (AFM) and molecular dynamics (MD) investigation to elucidate molecular-level details of the gypsum-water interface. Three-dimensional AFM data shed light into the hydration structure, revealing one water molecule per surface unit cell area in the lowest layer accessible to experiment. Comparing with simulation data suggests that the AFM tip does not penetrate into the surface-bound layer of crystal water. Instead, the first hydration water layer on top of the crystal water is mapped. Our findings indicate that the crystal water at the interface remains tightly bound, even when in contact with bulk water. Thus, the interfacial chemistry is governed by the crystal water rather than the calcium or sulfate ions. 2021 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/91489 10.1021/acs.jpcc.1c06213 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FL180100087 AMER CHEMICAL SOC fulltext
spellingShingle Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Technology
Chemistry, Physical
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Chemistry
Science & Technology - Other Topics
Materials Science
SOLID-SURFACES
BASSANITE
DYNAMICS
Söngen, H.
Silvestri, A.
Roshni, T.
Klassen, S.
Bechstein, R.
Raiteri, Paolo
Gale, Julian
Kühnle, A.
Does the Structural Water within Gypsum Remain Crystalline at the Aqueous Interface?
title Does the Structural Water within Gypsum Remain Crystalline at the Aqueous Interface?
title_full Does the Structural Water within Gypsum Remain Crystalline at the Aqueous Interface?
title_fullStr Does the Structural Water within Gypsum Remain Crystalline at the Aqueous Interface?
title_full_unstemmed Does the Structural Water within Gypsum Remain Crystalline at the Aqueous Interface?
title_short Does the Structural Water within Gypsum Remain Crystalline at the Aqueous Interface?
title_sort does the structural water within gypsum remain crystalline at the aqueous interface?
topic Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Technology
Chemistry, Physical
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Chemistry
Science & Technology - Other Topics
Materials Science
SOLID-SURFACES
BASSANITE
DYNAMICS
url http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FL180100087
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/91489