The hydration shell surrounding oily molecules in water is of both fundamental interest and practical importance to processes ranging from protein folding to environmental remediation. More recent work has questioned the Frank and Evans iceberg hypothesis and quantified crossover length scales and temperatures, but have not addressed the influence of crowding. We have done so using concentration dependent Raman multivariate curve resolution (Raman-MCR) studies of aqueous alcohol solutions. Our results reveal that crowding leads to a decrease in water structure and the associated crossover size and temperature. However, the hydration-shell structure is remarkably robust, as evidenced by the relatively small influence of crowding up to concentrations above which there would no longer be sufficient water to fully hydrate each oily solute.

Effect of crowding on hydrophobic crossover

2019 Fall National Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.