0xe01cfbdd…0372sent to0x81c094f7…aa23·#23,149,458·view on Etherscan
On the nature of the adsorbed phase of water
Liquids (or gases) that bind to surfaces will form a thin layer of adsorbate on the surface. For water this adsorbate can extend up to 300 micrometers outwards. It has been shown in diffraction photography the molecular structure is similar to normal ice but that each molecular layer is shifted one carbon in the hexagon. In the resulting crystal, only oxygen with a hydrogen atom in between them will face one another, whereas the other three oxygen will be in the center of the other hexagon. This adsorbate tends to auto-ionize with an auto ionization constant of around 8. The hydroxide ions are immobilized within the crystal structure whereas the hydrogen ions are free to move, causing the hydrogen ions to spread out by diffusion (and physical separation by diffusion makes recombination less likely, thus shifting the auto ionization constant downwards). The hydrogen ions can diffuse outwards up to 10 mm before an electrostatic equilibrium is formed (the diffusion current is then equal to the drift current), resulting in a pH of around 5.5 in that surrounding bulk water. A similar separation of charges also happens in other liquids where one charge carrier is more mobile within its adsorbate. Within the cell, the auto ionization constant of the adsorbate is much lower, closer to 2 (i.e., a pOH of 1 within the adsorbate). This is due to the released hydrogen ions being physically separated from the hydroxide ions and ability to recombine (thus shifting the auto-ionization equilibrium even more than simply physical separation by diffusion) by fully protonating the ATP + protein binding site complex (a complex that serves as a stronger base than ATP itself).