0x62448568…9229sent to0x476ec715…671c·#24,305,804·view on Etherscan
Auto-ionization in adsorbed water
The oxygen in water has partially stolen the electrons from the hydrogens (giving it a negative charge while the hydrogens become positively charged), and the oxygen and hydrogen in water can bond to atoms on other molecules with opposite charge. Water can also exchange the positively charged hydrogen atom with another molecule, while retaining the electron (which was partially acquired by the oxygen). In liquid water, water molecules are bonding to other water molecules via the positive and negative charge of the oxygen and hydrogen atoms, and they are occasionally exchanging hydrogen atoms (minus electrons, thus hydrogen ions) as well, forming an hydroxide ion (that released the hydrogen ion) and a hydronium ion (that acquired the hydrogen ion). The hydrogen ion on the hydronium ion can jump to another water molecule as it collides with them, and if it collides with an hydroxide ion it can return to it so that the two ions become normal water molecules again. This mechanism of auto-ionization, as a building-block, is all you need to understand the role of water in life. You can use this building-block of auto-ionization in different ways to build an electrical circuit as well as a form of engine that does physical work.
When water has adhered to or adsorbed to (ad-, to, toward + absorb) a surface it can bond to, it will form first a single layer against the surface, then adhere to that new layer of water, and so on, to form a phase similar to ice but where each sheet is shifted one oxygen atom relative to the one above and below. When you apply the mechanism of auto-ionization within this adsorbed phase (which is similar to a solid but partially liquid, the molecules still move around a bit) you end up with a hydroxide and hydronium ion but only the hydrogen ion on the hydronium ion is free to move, the hydroxide ion is not mobile and is stuck within the adsorbate. Here, the building-block of auto-ionization leads to a spontaneous separation of charge between the adsorbate and the surrounding liquid water. The hydrogen ions, being free to move, will spread out in all directions by diffusion, while the hydroxide ions do not. The charge separation that forms balances out the diffusion (as they hydrogen ions are attracted backwards to the hydroxide ions) and an equilibrium forms where the hydrogen ions have spread out but with a limit on how far away they are from the adsorbate. The building-block of auto-ionization, when only one of the charge carriers is mobile and the other immobile, will spontaneously form a separation of electrical charge.
The electrical field from the charge separation between adsorbed water and the surrounding liquid water will, somewhat counter-intuitively, stabilize the adsorbate. It aligns the physical movement of the water molecules in the adsorbate in a direction perpendicular to the surface the water has adhered to, and reduces any sideways movement of the water molecules. Therefore, there is an increase in how thick the adsorbate can grow, the adsorbate can grow thicker as you increase the auto-ionization (by for example applying infrared radiation). The building-block of auto-ionization can stabilize a partially solid phase of water so that it grows thicker than what might be otherwise expected.
The hydroxide ion in adsorbed water which is immobile, can also release its charge carrier, the electron, by chemically combining to produce water, dioxygen and electrons. This frees the electrons to recombine with the hydrogen ions if there is also dioxygen in the liquid water that they can combine with, and this produces water in the liquid water while it consumes it in the adsorbate. The mechanism of auto-ionization as a building block can thus move water from one location to another by producing it in the new location and breaking it down within the old location (i.e., within the adsorbate). This process if it happens over a membrane will reduce the water in the compartment water moved from, and increase the water in the compartment water moved to. Thus, the building-block of auto-ionization can physically move water over a membrane (by breaking it down on one side and producing it on the other).
When the hydroxide ions within the adsorbate release electricity and the electrons travel to the liquid water and the hydrogen ions, the building-block of auto-ionization has been able to build an electrical circuit, with a negative pole in the adsorbate and a positive pole in the liquid water. This building-block can be advanced on by physically preventing the release of electricity until it is desirable (similar to how a light switch works). There is different ways of achieving this, the hydrogen ions can be stored away into a base (such as phosphate) and only be made available when the electricity should be released (by in some way reducing the pKb of the base, such as by hydrolysis of ATP which then detaches the ADP from the ATP-binding site where the ATP was hydrogen bonded with the stored protons as hydrogen bond donors, or, by inserting an electrical insulator between the adsorbate and hydrogen ions, such as a lipid bilayer with phosphates that store the hydrogen ions), and the access to dioxygen can also be increased by moving it in loops from where it was produced to where it was consumed.