Incoherent Quasi-elastic Neutron Scattering from Fructose−Water Solutions

Abstract

Quasi-elastic incoherent neutron scattering (QENS) was used to study the dynamics of 4, 29, and 60 wt % solutions of fructose in deionized water at 300 K. Both the jump−diffusion and stretched exponential models were used to analyze the data, enabling the determination of the structural relaxation rate 1/τ and the stretch exponent β as functions of fructose concentration. The analysis of the neutron scattering data based on the jump−diffusion model is consistent with a transition from continuous to “hopping” or jump diffusion at 29 wt % fructose concentration observed in recent simulations of this same system. The analysis based on the stretched exponential model suggests that this change occurs at a higher fructose concentration.