The Influence of Changes in the Structure of Hydrogen Bonds of Water on the Electrophysical Properties of Matrix–Water Systems in Stepwise Heating

Abstract

Bound and free water are present in a wide variety of solids, that is single crystals, polymers, and biopolymers, as well as in media with a hydrogen bond network, as in water (2.7 ± 0.1 Å in length). Some objects behave in the same way as two-component systems (open systems) under external influences and demonstrate an abnormal change in properties at the same temperature as water. This paper presents the results of studies of the temperature behavior of the permittivity, conductivity, and conductivity relaxation time of some hydrophilic polymers, crystallohydrates, and ferroelectrics. The analysis of the results showed that temperature anomalies of the selected properties are observed in the vicinity of 20, 35, 65–75, and near 100°C, which are “special” temperatures for water: in the vicinity of 20, 35, 50°C the destruction of clusters of H₂O molecules occurs, while at higher temperatures there is a transition of structural water into free water. It is possible that the discrete nature of the diffuse temperature peaks of the properties is due to the presence of discrete energy levels of protons in the matrix–water system, which during stepwise heating (slow kinetics) leads to a rearrangement or destruction of the OH–O hydrogen bond network, as well as the overfilling of the proton levels in the two-minimum potential, the release of deep traps, and changes in the set of current carriers, their mobility, and the trajectories of transport in bulk.