文章基本信息

标题：An Ion Diffusion Method for Visualising a Solid-like Water Nanofilm
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作者：Ya Wang ; Zhiguang Duan ; Daidi Fan 等
期刊名称：Scientific Reports
电子版ISSN：2045-2322
出版年度：2013
卷号：3
DOI：10.1038/srep03505
出版社：Springer Nature
摘要：A nano-thick solid-like water film on solid surfaces plays an important role in various fields, including biology, materials science, atmospheric chemistry, catalysis and astrophysics. Visualising the water nanofilm has been a challenge due to its dynamic nature and nanoscale thickness. Here we report an ion diffusion method to address this problem using a membrane formed with a BSA-Na₂CO₃ (BSA, bovine serum albumin) mixture. After a solid-like water nanofilm deposits onto the membrane, Na⁺ and CO₃²⁻ ions diffuse into the film to form a solid Na₂CO₃ phase in its place. Consequently, the morphology of the nanofilm can be visualised by the space filled by the Na₂CO₃. Using this method, we successfully observed polygon-like, ribbon-like and spot-like nanofilms at 193 K, 253 K and room temperature, respectively. Our method may provide a tool for characterising confined water films ranging from a few nanometres to hundreds of nanometres in thickness.