Clusters of microparticles in distilled water: a kaleidoscope of versions and paradoxes of nature (Review)

TL;DR

This review examines the mysterious microparticles found in distilled water, analyzing their nature, composition, and phase transitions, highlighting paradoxes and proposing mechanisms behind their formation and behavior.

Contribution

The paper synthesizes existing literature and presents new insights into the microdispersed phase of distilled water and its phase transition mechanisms.

Findings

Microparticles are present in highly purified water, with unknown origins.

Evaporation leads to gel-like water and salt crystals, indicating complex phase transitions.

The microdispersed phase's structure and formation mechanisms are proposed.

Abstract

The presence of microparticles (clusters of micron size) of unknown origin in the volume of water, including highly purified water (bidistilled, deionized), has been repeatedly demonstrated by various methods of physical analysis. Various assumptions have been made about the nature of these microparticles, but none of them has become generally accepted. The review analyzes the literature data and the results obtained by the authors using optical and electron scanning microscopes. The composition and phase state of distilled water deposits at the bottom of glassware after evaporation of free water are considered. The structure of the microdispersed phase of distilled water and the mechanism of phase transitions of its components in the process of natural evaporation, the end products of which are gel-like water and sodium chloride crystals, are proposed.