The structure and terahertz dynamics of water confined in nanoscale pools in salt solutions.

The behaviour of liquid water below its melting point is of great interest as it may hold clues to the properties of normal liquid water and of water in and on the surfaces of biomolecules. A second critical point, giving rise to a polyamorphic transition between high and low density water, may be hidden in the supercooled region but cannot be observed directly. Here it is shown that water can be locked up in nano-pools or worm-like structures using aqueous LiCl salt solutions and can be studied with terahertz spectroscopies.