An Isolated Water Droplet in the Aqueous Solution of a Supramolecular Tetrahedral Cage

Water under nanoconfinement at ambient conditions has exhibited low-dimensional ice formation and liquid-solid phase transitions, but with structural and dynamical signatures which map onto known regions of waters phase diagram. Using THz absorption spectroscopy and ab initio molecular dynamics, we have investigated the ambient water confined in a supramolecular tetrahedral assembly, and determined that a distinct network of 9-10 water molecules is present within the nanocavity of the host. The low-frequency absorption spectrum and theoretical analysis of the water in the $Ga_4$$L_6$$^{-12}$ host demonstrate that the structure and dynamics of the encapsulated droplet is distinct from any known phase of water. A further inference is that the release of the highly unusual encapsulated water droplet creates a strong thermodynamic driver for the high affinity binding of guests in aqueous solution for the $Ga_4$$L_6$$^{-12}$ supramolecular construct

Detection of tick-borne pathogens in ticks collected in the suburban area of Monte Romano, Lazio Region, Central Italy

Background. A study on tick species characterization and tick borne pathogens detection was performed within a survey conducted during 2012 and 2013 in the Viterbo province (Lazio Region, Central Italy). Seven sites were selected for the study investigation, including two farms and a military zone. Methods. A total of 255 ticks, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus (n =215), Rhipicephalus bursa (n = 28), and Hyalomma marginatum (n = 12) were screened individually by molecular methods for the tick borne bacterial agents: Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato group, Bartonella spp., Coxiella burnetii, Ehrlichia spp., Francisella spp., and Rickettsia spp. Results and Conclusion. Overall, 182 ticks (71%) were infected with one pathogen but co-infections were also found. Tick borne pathogens identified were C. burnetii, B. burgdorferi s.l.., Bartonella spp., Rickettsia spp., Francisella spp., and Ehrlichia spp. In R. bursa and H. marginatum, the presence of B. burgdorferi s.l. was positively correlated with that of C. burnetii, Rickettsia spp., and Bartonella spp. and their coinfection probabilities were 29.8%, 22.7% and 11.7%, respectively. The Probability of coinfection for Francisella spp. and Rickettsia spp. and for Francisella spp. and Bartonella spp. was 14.9% and 17.9%, respectively. In R. (Boophilus) annulatus, the probability of coinfection between C. burnetii and B. burgdorferi s.l. was 11.3%, while those between C. burnetii and Bartonella and between B. burgdorferi s.l. and Bartonella were 0.8%. Further studies are needed in order to assess the risk associated with these tick-borne pathogens, somewhat unusual in Central Italy

Simulations DFT-MD et spectroscopie SFG théorique pour la caractérisation des interfaces aqueuses : des environnements hydrophobes à hydrophiles

Améliorer notre connaissance de la structure de l'eau dans l'environnement spécial offert par une interface est essentiel pour la compréhension de nombreux phénomènes naturels et applications technologiques. Pour révéler cette structure interfaciale de l'eau, des techniques capables de fournir des informations microscopiques, de manière sélective, pour cette couche interfaciale (BIL) sont nécessaires. Dans le présent travail de thèse, nous avons donc étudié les interfaces aqueuses au niveau moléculaire, en couplant la modélisation théorique à partir de simulations DFT-MD avec les spectroscopies SFG et THz-IR. En développant de nouveaux protocoles/outils d'investigation associant simulations DFT-MD et spectroscopie SFG, en particulier pour la rationalisation plus complexe des interfaces chargées, nous avons fourni une compréhension globale de l'effet des conditions interfaciales d'hydrophilicité, de pH, de force ionique sur le réseau des liaisons-H formé dans la couche interfaciale BIL, sur ses signatures spectroscopiques et sur son impact sur les propriétés physico-chimiques. Nous avons montré pour la première fois que, dans des conditions suffisamment hydrophobes, l'eau interfaciale crée des réseaux des liaisons-H bidimensionnels, révélé expérimentalement par les spectres THz-IR. Le réseau-2D dicte la dynamique de l'eau interfaciale, le potentiel de surface, l'acidité de surface, la tension superficielle et la thermodynamique d'hydratation des solutés hydrophobes. Cet "ordre horizontal" aux interfaces hydrophobes est opposé à "l'ordre verticale" obtenu aux interfaces hydrophiles. Nous avons aussi révélé comment les ions et les conditions de pH modifient ces arrangements structuraux.Improving our knowledge on water H-Bonded networks formed in the special environment offered by an interface is pivotal for our understanding of many natural phenomena and technological applications. To reveal the interfacial water arrangement, techniques able to provide detailed microscopic information selectively for the interfacial layer are required. In the present thesis work, we have hence investigated aqueous interfaces at the molecular level, by coupling theoretical modeling from DFT-MD simulations with SFG & THz-IR spectroscopies. By developing new investigation protocols/tools, coupling DFT-MD simulations and SFG spectroscopy, in particular for the more complex rationalization of charged interfaces, we have provided a global comprehension of the effect of various interfacial conditions (hydrophilicity, pH, ionic strength) on the HB-Network formed in the interfacial layer (BIL), on its spectroscopic signatures and on its impact on physico-chemical properties. We have shown for the first time that, in sufficiently hydrophobic conditions, BIL interfacial water creates special 2-Dimensional HB-Networks, experimentally revealed by one specific THz-IR marker band. Such 2D-network dictates HBs and orientational dynamics of interfacial water, surface potential, surface acidity, water surface tension and thermodynamics of hydration of hydrophobic solutes. Such "horizontal ordering” of water at hydrophobic interfaces is found opposite to the “vertical ordering” of water at hydrophilic interfaces, while coexistence of the two orders leads to disordered interfacial water in intermediate hydrophilic/hydrophobic conditions. Both DFT-MD and SFG further revealed how ions & pH conditions alter these BIL-water orders

Spectroscopic BIL-SFG Invariance Hides the Chaotropic Effect of Protons at the Air-Water Interface

The knowledge of the water structure at the interface with the air in acidic pH conditions is of utmost importance for chemistry in the atmosphere. We shed light on the acidic air-water (AW) interfacial structure by DFT-MD simulations of the interface containing one hydronium ion coupled with theoretical SFG (Sum Frequency Generation) spectroscopy. The interpretation of SFG spectra at charged interfaces requires a deconvolution of the signal into BIL (Binding Interfacial Layer) and DL (Diffuse Layer) SFG contributions, which is achieved here, and hence reveals that even though H 3 O + has a chaotropic effect on the BIL water structure (by weakening the 2D-HBond-Network observed at the neat air-water interface) it has no direct probing in SFG spectroscopy. The changes observed experimentally in the SFG of the acidic AW interface from the SFG at the neat AW are shown here to be solely due to the DL-SFG contribution to the spectroscopy. Such BIL-SFG and DL-SFG deconvolution rationalizes the experimental SFG data in the literature, while the hydronium chaotropic effect on the water 2D-HBond-Network in the BIL can be put in perspective of the decrease in surface tension at acidic AW interfaces

S.O.S: shape, orientation and size tune solvation in electrocatalysis

Current models to understand the reactivity of metal/aqueous interfaces in electrochemistry are based on the adsorption free energies of reactants and products, e.g. volcano plots. Theory, in particular electronic calculations, played a major role in the quantification and comprehension of these free energies in terms of the interactions that the reactive species form with the surface. However, also solvation free energies come into play in two ways: (i) by modulating the adsorption free energy together with solute-surface interactions, as the solute has to penetrate the water adlayer in contact with the surface and get partially desolvated (which costs free energy); (ii) by regulating transport across the interface, i.e. the free energy profile from the bulk to the interface, which is strongly non-monotonic due to the unique nature of metal/aqueous interfaces. Here, we use constant potential Molecular Dynamics to study the solvation contributions and we uncover huge effects of the shape and orientation (on top of the already known size effect) of the solute on its adsorption free energy. We propose a minimal theoretical model, the S.O.S. model, that accounts for size, orientation and shape effects. These novel aspects are rationalized by recasting the concepts at the base of the Lum- Chandler-Weeks theory of solvation into a layer-by-layer form, where the properties of each interfacial region close to the metal are explicitly taken into account

Spectroscopic BIL-SFG Invariance Hides the Chaotropic Effect of Protons at the Air-Water Interface

The knowledge of the water structure at the interface with the air in acidic pH conditions is of utmost importance for chemistry in the atmosphere. We shed light on the acidic air-water (AW) interfacial structure by DFT-MD simulations of the interface containing one hydronium ion coupled with theoretical SFG (Sum Frequency Generation) spectroscopy. The interpretation of SFG spectra at charged interfaces requires a deconvolution of the signal into BIL (Binding Interfacial Layer) and DL (Diffuse Layer) SFG contributions, which is achieved here, and hence reveals that even though H 3 O + has a chaotropic effect on the BIL water structure (by weakening the 2D-HBond-Network observed at the neat air-water interface) it has no direct probing in SFG spectroscopy. The changes observed experimentally in the SFG of the acidic AW interface from the SFG at the neat AW are shown here to be solely due to the DL-SFG contribution to the spectroscopy. Such BIL-SFG and DL-SFG deconvolution rationalizes the experimental SFG data in the literature, while the hydronium chaotropic effect on the water 2D-HBond-Network in the BIL can be put in perspective of the decrease in surface tension at acidic AW interfaces

The role of hydrophobic hydration in the free energy of chemical reactions at the gold/water interface: size and position effects

Metal/water interfaces catalyze a large variety of chemical reactions, which often involve small hydrophobic molecules. In the present theoretical study we show that hydrophobic hydration at the Au(100)/water interface actively contributes to the reaction free energy by up to several hundreds of meV. This occurs either in adsorption/desorption reaction steps, where the vertical distance from the surface changes in going from reactants to products, or in addition and elimination reaction steps, where two small reactants merge into a larger product and viceversa. We find that size and position effects cannot be captured by treating them as independent variables. Instead, their simultaneous evaluation allows to map the important contributions, and we provide examples of their combinations for which interfacial reactions can be either favoured or disfavoured. By taking a N2 and a CO2 reduction pathway as test cases, we show that explicitly considering hydrophobic effects is important for the selectivity and rate of these relevant interfacial processes

2D-HB-Network at the air-water interface: A structural and dynamical characterization by means of ab initio and classical molecular dynamics simulations

International audienceFollowing our previous work where the existence of a special 2-Dimensional H-Bond (2D-HB)-Network was revealed at the air-water interface [S. Pezzotti et al., J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 8, 3133 (2017)], we provide here a full structural and dynamical characterization of this specific arrangement by means of both Density Functional Theory based and Force Field based molecular dynamics simulations. We show in particular that water at the interface with air reconstructs to maximize H-Bonds formed between interfacial molecules, which leads to the formation of an extended and non-interrupted 2-Dimensional H-Bond structure involving on average ∼90% of water molecules at the interface. We also show that the existence of such an extended structure, composed of H-Bonds all oriented parallel to the surface, constrains the reorientional dynamics of water that is hence slower at the interface than in the bulk. The structure and dynamics of the 2D-HB-Network provide new elements to possibly rationalize several specific properties of the air-water interface, such as water surface tension, anisotropic reorientation of interfacial water under an external field, and proton hopping

2D H-Bond Network as the Topmost Skin to the Air–Water Interface

International audienceWe provide a detailed description of the structure of water at the interface with the air (liquid-vapor LV interface) from state-of-the-art DFT-based molecular dynamics simulations. For the first time, a two-dimensional (2D) H-bond extended network has been identified and fully characterized, demonstrating that interfacial water is organized into a 2D sheet with H-bonds oriented parallel to the instantaneous surface and following its spatial and temporal oscillations. By analyzing the nonlinear vSFG (vibrational sum frequency generation) spectrum of the LV interface in terms of layer-by-layer signal, we demonstrate that the 2D water sheet is solely responsible for the spectral signatures, hence providing the interfacial 3.5 Å thickness effectively probed in nonlinear interfacial spectroscopy. The 2D H-bond network unraveled here is the essential key to rationalize macroscopic properties of water-air interfaces, as demonstrated here for spectroscopy and the surface potential

Deconvolution of BIL-SFG and DL-SFG spectroscopic signals reveals order/disorder of water at the elusive aqueous silica interface

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