Effect of Radiant Energy on Near-Surface Water

While recent research on interfacial water has focused mainly on the few interfacial layers adjacent to the solid boundary, century-old studies have extensively shown that macroscopic domains of liquids near interfaces acquire features different from the bulk. Interest in these long-range effects has been rekindled by recent observations showing that colloidal and molecular solutes are excluded from extensive regions next to many hydrophilic surfaces [Zheng and Pollack Phys. Rev. E 2003, 68, 031408]. Studies of these aqueous "exclusion zones" reveal a more ordered phase than bulk water, with local charge separation between the exclusion zones and the regions beyond [Zheng et al. Colloid Interface Sci. 2006, 127, 19; Zheng and Pollack Water and the Cell: Solute exclusion and potential distribution near hydrophilic surfaces; Springer: Netherlands, 2006; pp 165-174], here confirmed using pH measurements. The main question, however, is where the energy for building these charged, low-entropy zones might come from. It is shown that radiant energy profoundly expands these zones in a reversible, wavelength-dependent manner. It appears that incident radiant energy may be stored in the water as entropy loss and charge separation.