Giant water clusters: where are they from?

TL;DR

This paper proposes a new mechanism involving liquid crystal spheres for the formation and destruction of giant water clusters, emphasizing the role of air ingress and ionic strength in phase transitions during evaporation.

Contribution

It introduces a novel model explaining the dynamics of water clusters and their phase transitions based on liquid crystal spheres and ionic strength effects.

Findings

LCS ingress into water from air is highly probable.

Giant water clusters form and dissolve depending on ionic strength and evaporation.

A schematic of phase transition dynamics in water with LCS is proposed.

Abstract

A new mechanism for the formation and destruction of giant water clusters described in the literature is proposed. We have earlier suggested that the clusters are associates of liquid crystal spheres (LCS), each of which is formed around a seed particle, a micro-crystal of sodium chloride. In this paper, we show that the ingress of LCS in water from the surrounding air is highly likely. When a certain threshold of the ionic strength of a solution is exceeded (for example, in the process of evaporation of a portion of water), the LCS begin to melt, passing into free water, and the salt crystals dissolve, ensuring re-growth of larger crystals as a precipitate on the substrate. A schematic diagram of the dynamics of phase transitions in water containing LCS during evaporation is proposed.