Abstract
The short-range forces between hydrophilic surfaces in water determine the behaviour of many diverse systems such as the stability of colloidal dispersions1,2 and soap films3, the swelling of clays4 and the interactions of biological membranes5–8 and macromolecules9. So far, all experimental measurements of these forces have indicated that they are repulsive and decay monotonically with distance out to separations of up to ∼6 nm. These forces, variously termed ‘structural’ or ‘hydration’ forces, arise from the energy needed to dehydrate interacting surfaces which contain ionic or polar species. Here we have measured, in some detail, the short-range hydration force between two molecularly smooth surfaces of mica containing hydrated potassium ions. We find that while the hydration force is overall repulsive it is not monotonic at separations ≲1.5 nm but exhibits oscillations, that is, alternating maxima and minima with a mean periodicity of 0.25 ± 0.03 nm, roughly the diameter of the water molecule. These results rationalize apparently irreconcilable observations on clay–water systems and go some way towards clarifying the origin and nature of hydration forces.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
England, D. in Water: A Comprehensive Treatise Vol. 5 (ed. Franks, F.) Ch. 1 (Plenum, New York, 1975).
Deryaguin, B. V. & Churaev, N. V. Croatica chem. Acta 50, 187–195 (1977).
Clunie, J. S., Goodman, J. F. & Symons, P. C. Nature 216, 1203–1204 (1967).
Viani, B. E., Low, P. F. & Roth, C. B. J. Colloid Interface Sci. (in the press).
Le Neveu, D. M., Rand, R. P., Parsegian, V. A. & Gingell, D. Biophys. J. 18, 209–230 (1977).
Cowley, A. C., Fuller, N. L., Rand, R. P. & Parsegian, V. A. Biochemistry 17, 3163–3168 (1978).
Lis, L. J., McAlister, M., Fuller, N., Rand, R. P. & Parsegian, V. A. Biophys. J. 37, 657–665 (1982).
Duniec, J. T., Israelachvili, J. N., Ninham, B. W., Pashley, R. M. & Thorne, S. W. FEBS Lett. 129, 193–196 (1981).
Rau, D. R., Lee, B. K. & Parsegian, V. A. Biophys. J. 41 (No. 2, Pt 2), 418a (1983).
Israelachvili, J. N. & Adams, G. E. Nature 262, 774–776 (1976); JCS Faraday Trans. I 74, 975–1001 (1978).
Pashley, R. M. J. Colloid Interface Sci. 83, 531–546 (1981).
Peschel, G., Belouschek, P., Müller, M. M., Müller, M. R. & König, R. Colloid Polym. Sci. 260, 444–451 (1982).
Rabinovich, Y. I., Derjaguin, B. V. & Churaev, N. V. Adv. Colloid Interface Sci. 16, 63–78 (1982).
Israelachvili, J. N. & Pashley, R. M. in Biophysics of Water (ed. Franks, F.) 183–194 (Wiley, New York, 1982).
Pashley, R. M. & Israelachvili, J. N. Colloids Surfaces 2, 169–187 (1981).
Israelachvili, J. N. & Tabor, D. Nature phys. Sci. 236, 106 (1972); Proc. R. Soc. A331, 19–38 (1972).
Derjaguin, B. V. & Landau, L. Acta phys. chim. URSS 14, 633–662 (1941).
Verwey, E. J. W. & Overbeek, J. Th. G. Theory of the Stability of Lyophobic Colloids (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1948).
Israelachvili, J. N., Perez, E. & Tandon, R. K. J. Colloid Interface Sci. 78, 260–261 (1980).
van Megen, W. & Snook, I. K. JCS Faraday Trans. II 75, 1095–1102 (1979); J. chem. Phys. 72, 2907–2913 (1980).
Grimson, M. J., Rickayzen, G. & Richmond, P. Molec. Phys. 39, 61–73, 1455–1462 (1980).
Chan, D. Y. C., Mitchell, D. J., Ninham, B. W. & Pailthorpe, B. A. JCS Faraday Trans. II 76, 776–784 (1980).
Jönsson, B. Chem. Phys. Lett. 82, 520–525 (1981).
Christou, N. I., Whitehouse, J. S., Nicholson, D. & Parsonage, N. G. Faraday Symp. chem. Soc. 16, 139–149 (1981).
Horn, R. G. & Israelachvili, J. N. J. chem. Phys. 75, 1400–1411 (1981).
Christenson, H. K. J. Chem. Phys. 78, 6906–6913 (1983).
Christenson, H. K. & Horn, R. G. Chem. phys. Lett. 98, 45–48 (1983).
Del Pennino, U. et al. J. Colloid Interface Sci. 84, 301–309 (1981).
Norrish, K. Disc. Faraday Soc. 18, 120–134 (1954).
Callaghan, I. C. & Ottewill, R. H. Disc. Faraday Soc. 57, 110–118 (1974).
Quirk, J. P. in Modification of Soil Structure (eds Emerson, W. W., Bond, R. D. & Dexter A. R.) Ch. 1 (Wiley, New York, 1978).
Büldt, G., Gally, H. U., Seelig, J. & Zaccai, G. J. molec. Biol. 134, 673–691 (1979).
Lis, L. J., McAlister, M., Fuller, N., Rand, R. P. & Parsegian, V. A. Biophys. J. 37, 667–672 (1982).
Derjaguin, B. V. Kolloid Z. 69, 155–164 (1934).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Israelachvili, J., Pashley, R. Molecular layering of water at surfaces and origin of repulsive hydration forces. Nature 306, 249–250 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/306249a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/306249a0
This article is cited by
-
Hydration lubrication modulated by water structure at TiO2-aqueous interfaces
Friction (2024)
-
Graphene versus concentrated aqueous electrolytes: the role of the electrochemical double layer in determining the screening length of an electrolyte
npj 2D Materials and Applications (2023)
-
Hydration solids
Nature (2023)
-
Quantitative characterization of liquids flowing in geometrically controlled sub-100 nm nanofluidic channels
Analytical Sciences (2023)
-
Unlocking the secrets behind liquid superlubricity: A state-of-the-art review on phenomena and mechanisms
Friction (2022)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.