Two-dimensional neutron scattering in a floating heavy water bridge

Elmar C Fuchs (1) , Patrick Baroni (2) , Brigitte Bitschnau (3) , Laurence Noirez (2)

1 Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Water Technology
2 IRAMIS - Institut Rayonnement Matière de Saclay (DRF)
3 Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry

When high voltage is applied to pure water filled into two beakers close to each other, a connection forms spontaneously, giving the impression of a floating water bridge. This phenomenon is of special interest, since it comprises a number of phenomena currently tackled in modern water science. In this work, the first two dimensional structural study of a floating heavy water bridge is presented as a function of the azimuthal angle. A small anisotropy in the angular distribution of the intensity of the first structural peak was observed, indicating a preferred orientation of a part of the D 2 O molecules along the electric field lines without breaking of the local tetrahedral symmetry. The experiment is carried out by neutron scattering on a D 2 O bridge.

Mots clés: Physical Sciences

Elmar C Fuchs, Patrick Baroni, Brigitte Bitschnau, Laurence Noirez. Two-dimensional neutron scattering in a floating heavy water bridge. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 2010, 43 (10), pp.105502. ⟨10.1088/0022-3727/43/10/105502⟩. ⟨hal-00569550⟩