From liquid water to biological water: dynamics by ultrafast spectroscopy

Mercoledì 23 novembre  alle ore  15:00,  il prof. Renato Torre dell'European Lab. for Non-Linear Spectroscopy (LENS) e  Dipartimento di Fisica ed Astronomia, Università degli Studi di Firenze, terrà il Colloquio di Fisica  dal titolo "From liquid water to biological water:  dynamics by ultrafast spectroscopy".


Abstract: The proprieties of water are of paramount relevance for matter research, bio-science and many technological applications. The water dynamics typically develops over very fast scale of the order of a few picoseconds, this makes it quite difficult to be investigated by usual experiments. The laser spectroscopy, based on femtosecond pulse, enables accurate measurement of structural and vibrational water dynamics with an unprecedented data quality.
In the talk I will introduce some non-linear time-resolved spectroscopic techniques developed by our research group at LENS; In particular, I will focus on the Optical Kerr Effect tool.  Using this spectroscopy, we studied the dynamics of a series of sample in which water is present under different conditions. Starting from the liquid water in supercooled phase, I will compare the experimental results on the dynamics of water when it is confined within silica nanopores or when water hydrates globular proteins at increasing concentration.