EPJE Topical review - Advances in the study of supercooled water

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Published on 29 November 2021

Water connects to life at many levels, from biology to human activities, health, climate, and technology. And it is the most peculiar simple liquid on our planet. In fact, water presents several anomalies as compared to other simple liquids. These anomalies become more conspicuous at low temperatures within the metastable supercooled regime, that is, the region below its melting point where the stable form is the ordered solid. In this regime water can also exist in the liquid state while at lower temperatures it can also be found in the amorphous (glassy) solid state. In the supercooled state liquid water displays polymorphism displaying both a high density and a low-density structure. The two possible structures that water can choose, and their interplay, are connected with the possible existence of the terminating (critical) point of a line that separates a low-density region from a high-density region and above which the liquid exists in a single phase.

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EPJ ST Highlight - An exploration of tipping in complex systems

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Published on 22 November 2021

This special issue examines the extensive landscape of research into tipping within complex systems, and provides guidance as to where the field will likely be headed in the future.

Complex systems can be found in a diverse array of real-world scenarios, but are unified by their ability to suddenly transition between drastically different patterns of behaviour. Known as ‘tipping,’ this type of transformation is generally triggered by small changes in the parameters of individual systems – whose effects can rapidly cascade to alter entire networks of interacting subsystems. This special issue of EPJ Special Topics explores the nature of tipping in complex systems through 21 new articles. Together, the studies reveal recent trends and directions of research within the field, and highlight the pressing challenges it will face in the future.

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EPJ E Topical review - Structure and dynamics of nanoconfined water and aqueous solutions

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Published on 16 November 2021

Water, regarded as the matrix of life, is an ubiquitous and peculiar liquid that exhibits a plethora of anomalous properties, both in its stable and metastable bulk states, which fostered a lot of experimental and theoretical studies. Less explored is the field of water and aqueous systems confined in nanoporous materials that, in addition to its fundamental interest, are present in a number of practical situations, including biological and separation processes and energy generation and storage, among others. These facts have triggered a vast amount of research that, so far, has not been conveniently reviewed.

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