Enhancing the Hydrophobic Effect in Confined Water Nanodrops

Rao, Palla Venkata Gopala and Gandhi, KS and Ayappa, KG (2007) Enhancing the Hydrophobic Effect in Confined Water Nanodrops. In: Langmuir, 23 (26). pp. 12795-12798.

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Abstract

The distribution of hydrophobic solutes, such as methane, enclosed in a nanosized water droplet contained in a reverse micelle of diameter 2.82 nm is investigated using Monte Carlo simulations. The effect of the hydrophobic solute's atomic diameter on the solute-solute potential of mean force is also studied. The study reveals that confinement has a strong influence on the solute's tendency to associate. The potential of mean force exhibits only a single minimum, indicating that the contact pair is the only stable configuration between solutes. The solvent-separated pair that is universally observed for small solutes in bulk water is conspicuously absent. This enhanced hydrophobic effect is attributed to the lack of sufficient water to completely hydrate and stabilize the solvent-separated configurations. The study is expected to be important in understanding the role of hydrophobic forces during protein folding and nucleation under confinement.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Langmuir
Publisher:	American Chemical Society
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to American Chemical Society.
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Chemical Engineering
Date Deposited:	25 Apr 2008
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 04:42
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/13111

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