Shedding light on the formation of nanodroplets in aqueous solutions of polar organics
Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - 16:01
in Physics & Chemistry
A team of researchers in Russia worked together to shed new light on the heterogeneous nature of a polar organic liquid mixed with water. They used laser light as a tool in two ways, dynamic light scattering and phase microscopy, that allowed them to demonstrate the existence of stable nanodroplets of tetrahydrofuran (THF) in the bulk of aqueous electrolyte solutions and to develop a new theory that explains the spontaneous generation of heterogeneous nanoparticles in aqueous solutions of polar organic solutes in terms of nanodroplet formation due to "twinkling" hydrogen bonds.