Indirect and direct correlations between unlike ions in incompletely hydrated solution

Abstract

The nature of hydration around Li+ in incompletely hydrated solution was investigated by the neutron first-order difference method (Soper et al., 1977), using a time-of-flight neutron diffractometer. The authors observed, for the first time, direct evidence of Li-Cl correlations, which reflect the short-range correlations between water molecules and Li+ as well as between Cl- and Li+ within approximately 4 AA. The angle between the Li-O axis and the plane of the water molecule and the hydration number were strongly concentration dependent, even for incompletely hydrated solutions at large than approximately 25 mol.% LiCl.