Chen Xuke, Xia Yu, Zhang Zhenyuan, Hua Lei, Jia Xiuquan, Wang Feng, Zare Richard N
State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, P. R. China.
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, P. R. China.
J Am Chem Soc. 2023 Oct 4;145(39):21538-21545. doi: 10.1021/jacs.3c07445. Epub 2023 Sep 19.
Oils are hydrophobic, but their degradation is frequently found to be accelerated in the presence of water microdroplets. The direct chemical consequences of water-oil contact have long been overlooked. We show that aqueous microdroplets in emulsified water-hexadecane (CH) mixtures can spontaneously produce CO, •H, H, and short-chain hydrocarbons (mainly C and C) as detected by gas chromatography, electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry. This reaction results from contact electrification at the water-oil microdroplet interface, in which reactive oxygen species are produced, such as hydrated hydroxyl radicals and hydrogen peroxide. We also find that the H originates from the water microdroplet and not the hydrocarbon it contacts. These observations highlight the potential of interfacial contact electrification to produce new chemistry.
油类具有疏水性，但人们经常发现，在存在水微滴的情况下，它们的降解会加速。水与油接触的直接化学后果长期以来一直被忽视。我们发现，通过气相色谱法、电子顺磁共振光谱法和质谱法检测，乳化的水 - 十六烷（CH）混合物中的水微滴可自发产生一氧化碳、氢原子、氢气和短链烃（主要是C₂和C₃）。该反应源于水 - 油微滴界面处的接触起电，在此过程中会产生活性氧物种，如水合羟基自由基和过氧化氢。我们还发现，氢气源自水微滴而非与其接触的碳氢化合物。这些观察结果突出了界面接触起电产生新化学物质的潜力。
