Relaxation dynamics of deeply supercooled confined water in l,l-diphenylalanine micro/nanotubes

Abstract

The temperature dependence (10–290 K) of the low-frequency (20–150 cm⁻¹) Raman-active phonon modes of deeply supercooled confined water in L,L-diphenylalanine micro/nanotubes was analyzed. The isolated dynamics of a specific geometry of a water cluster (pentamer) in a supercooled confined regime was studied in detail. A fragile-to-strong transition at 204 K was observed and related to the crossing of the Widom line. Analysis of peptide vibrational modes coupled to water hydrogen bonds indicated that hydrogen bond fluctuations play an irrelevant role in this system. Our results are in agreement with the second critical point of water existence hypothesis.