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The Hydrophobic Gap at High Hydrostatic Pressures
Author(s) -
Wirkert Florian J.,
Hölzl Christoph,
Paulus Michael,
Salmen Paul,
Tolan Metin,
Horinek Dominik,
Nase Julia
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201706662
Subject(s) - hydrostatic pressure , chemical physics , hydrostatic equilibrium , surface pressure , molecular dynamics , electron , electron density , materials science , chemistry , thermodynamics , computational chemistry , mechanics , physics , quantum mechanics
We have gained new insight into the so‐called hydrophobic gap, a molecularly thin region of decreased electron density at the interface between water and a solid hydrophobic surface, by X‐ray reflectivity experiments and molecular dynamics simulations at different hydrostatic pressures. Pressure variations show that the hydrophobic gap persists up to a pressure of 5 kbar. The electron depletion in the interfacial region strongly decreases with an increase in pressure, indicating that the interfacial region is compressed more strongly than bulk water. The decrease is most significant up to 2 kbar; beyond that, the pressure response of the depletion is less pronounced.