Feeling the squeeze: shear viscoelasticity of nanoconfined water

Abstract

How water molecules confined in nanometer gaps respond to shear: as a viscoelastic solid, viscous fluid or something in between? This important question relevanti in biology, geochemistry, mineralogy, colloidal science and engineering continues to be debated with experimental evidence provided for conflicting point of view. Here we show clear results obtained using innovative technique based on vertically oriented micromechanical force sensors investigating viscoelastic response of water on muscovite mica