Ion-solvent interaction. Structural aspects of ion-solvent interaction in aqueous solutions: a suggested picture of water structure

TLDR: In this paper, a new picture of water as consisting of flickering clusters of hydrogen-bonded molecules is presented, in which the cooperative nature of cluster formation and relaxation is related to the partially covalent character which is postulated for the hydrogen bond.

Abstract: : In addition to the direct action of the ionic charge on water as a dielectric medium, ions may exert an influence on the equilibrium between the ice-like and non-ice-like forms which are present in room-temperature water. This provides a way of accounting for experimental results in a variety of areas, including entropy, heat capacity, temperature of maximum density, tracer selfdiffusion, thermal conductivity, and dielectric relaxation, as well as viscosity and ionic mobility and their temperature coefficients. The tetrabutyl ammonium cation acts as a structure-promoter in the same way as do non-polar solutes, amino acids and fatty acid anions. These various effects seem explicable in a straightforward manner in terms of a new picture of water as consisting of flickering clusters of hydrogen-bonded molecules, in which the cooperative nature of cluster formation and relaxation is related to the partially covalent character which is postulated for the hydrogen bond. (Author)