Slow dynamics of water in reverse micelles

Abstract

We present the magnetic-field dependence of the proton and deuteron spin–lattice relaxation rate ( R 1 ) of water confined in reverse micelles of bis (2-ethylhexyl) sodium sulfosuccinate (AOT) dispersed in isooctane. After a plateau at very low fields, R 1 decreases as a power law when the Larmor frequency increases. These typical relaxation features have been interpreted according to a model of molecular reorientations coupled with translational diffusion in spherical confinement. A numerical simulation of Brownian dynamics of water molecules confined in a sphere is proposed to support this model. We aim at extending the proposed study to allow a better understanding of the slow dynamics of biological systems in confinement. .