Unusual Phase Behavior of Confined Heavy Water

Many of the anomalous properties of water are amplified in the deeply supercooled region. Here we present neutron scattering measurements of the density of heavy water confined in a nanoporous silica matrix MCM-41-S (\approx15 Å pore diameter), namely, the equation of state ρ(T,P), in a temperature-pressure range, from 300 K to 130 K and from 1 bar to 2900 bar, where bulk water will crystalize. A sudden change of slope in the otherwise continuous density profile (a "kink") is observed below a certain pressure Pc; however, this feature is absent above Pc. Instead, a hysteresis phenomenon in the density profiles between the warming and cooling scans becomes prominent above Pc. Hence, the data can be interpreted as a line of apparent 2nd-order phase transition at low pressures evolving into a line of 1st-order phase transition at high pressures. If so, the existence of a "tricritical point" at Pc \approx 1500 bar, Tc \approx 210 K becomes another possible scenario to explain the exceptionally rich phase behavior of low-temperature confined water.

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