Faculty of Science (FNWI) - Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences (HIMS)
Faculty of Science (FNWI) - Institute of Physics (IoP) - Van der Waals-Zeeman Institute (WZI)
Abstract
Fluorescence microscopy and conductivity measurements reveal a remarkably strong effect of hydrophobic groups on the mobility of protons in water. The addition of 5 M of tetramethylurea (4 methyl, groups per molecule) results in a reduction of the proton mobility by a factor of similar to 10: hydrophobic hydration strongly suppresses proton mobility. These observations demonstrate the collective nature of aqueous proton transport.
