The Shape of Water: Wetting and Beyond

水是地球上最丰富的分子，然而液态水的形状仍然让科学界感到困惑。水的经典描述包括平均每个水分子通过氢键与四面体模体中的其他四个水分子结合。到目前为止，这种结构一直是理解表面润湿的基础，这需要与表征表面接触的有限大小的液滴来测量其接触角。申请人最近在液滴水下润湿动力学方面的开创性工作揭示了液滴和水下表征表面之间存在一层纳米级的薄水膜，强调了界面水层在润湿动力学中的重要性。拟议的研究计划建立在液滴动力学的这些进展的基础上，利用通过该计划开发的最先进的实验和计算工具，获得对界面水层内承压水分子形状的新的、基本的了解。它将探索这种承压水分子的新量子性质。这项由实验、理论和计算工作组成的基础性研究将为对润湿现象的新理解铺平道路，特别是在新出现的二维材料的背景下，它可能为理解承压水分子的量子行为提供新的见解。这将有广泛的工程应用，从制造具有防污性能的高效憎水表面(例如，船体)到用于海水淡化的膜(例如，通过拒绝溶解的盐来提供新的清洁水源)，甚至创造新的量子计算方法(例如，使用室温下的水分子进行计算)。该研究计划将培养11名高素质的人才，包括博士后研究员、研究生和高级本科生，目标是建立一支基于基础科学和工程应用研究无缝结合的训练有素的劳动力队伍。它将为在加拿大的战略优先领域(先进制造、环境和信息和通信技术)培养熟练劳动力提供重要机会。研究成果将为研究界提供关于润湿和界面水重要性的新视角，从而为申请者建立一个关于量子润湿的新的研究方向。这一全面的研究计划将使加拿大在开发和表征具有可调润湿性能的下一代材料方面处于国际领先地位，并将推动申请者的研究小组走在润湿社区的前列。

Water is the most abundant molecule on earth, yet the shape of liquid water continues to mystify the scientific community. Classical depictions of water consist of each water molecule on an average bonded to four others in a tetrahedral motif by hydrogen bonding. To date, this structure has been the foundation for understanding wetting of surfaces, which requires a finite size liquid drop in contact with the characterizing surface to measure its contact angle. The applicant's recent pioneering work on underwater wetting dynamics of liquid drops revealed the existence of a nano-scale thin water film between the drop and the submerged characterizing surface, underscoring the importance of the interfacial water layer in wetting dynamics. The proposed research program builds upon these advances in under-liquid drop dynamics to gain new, fundamental understanding of the shape of the confined water molecules within interfacial water layers using state-of-art experimental and computational tools developed through this program. It will explore new quantum properties for such confined water molecules. This fundamental research consisting of experimental, theoretical and computational work will pave the way for a new understanding of wetting phenomena, particularly in the context of new emerging two-dimensional materials, and it could provide new insight into the quantum behaviour of confined water molecules. This would have a wide variety of engineering applications ranging from fabricating efficient water-repellant surfaces with antifouling properties (e.g., ship hulk) to membranes for water desalination (e.g., providing new source for clean water by rejecting dissolved salts) and even creating new ways of quantum computing (e.g., using water molecules at room temperature to perform computation). The research program will train eleven highly qualified personnel including post-doctoral fellows, graduate students and senior undergraduate students with a goal to create a trained workforce based on seamless integration of fundamental science with applied research in engineering. It would provide significant opportunities to develop skilled workforce in Canada's strategic priority areas (Advanced Manufacturing, Environment, and ICT). The research outcomes will provide the research community with new perspectives on wetting and the importance of interfacial water, thereby establishing a new research direction on "quantum wetting" for the applicant. This comprehensive research program will position Canada as an international leader in developing and characterizing the next-generation materials with tunable wetting properties and will propel the applicant's research group to the forefront of the wetting community.