Physico-chemical properties of aqueous extremely diluted solutions in relation to ageing

• Published in: Journal of thermal analysis and calorimetry 2008-09, Vol.93 (3), p.1003-1011
• Main Authors: Elia, V., Elia, L., Marchettini, N., Napoli, E., Niccoli, M., Tiezzi, E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analytical Chemistry; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Inorganic Chemistry; Measurement Science and Instrumentation; Physical Chemistry; Polymer Sciences
• ISSN: 1388-6150; 1588-2926; 1572-8943
• DOI: 10.1007/s10973-007-8843-8

An extensive study has been carried out on aqueous ‘extremely diluted solutions’ (EDS). The employed experimental methodologies were well established physico-chemical techniques: flux calorimetry, conductometry, pH-metry, e.m.f. of suitable galvanic cell. The obtained results show that the preparation procedure significantly alters the physico-chemical behaviour of such solutions. Moreover, the analysis of the experimental data vs. the ‘arrow of time’ turned out to be astonishingly important. In fact some measured physico-chemical parameters evolve with time. Some experimentally measurable physico-chemical properties of the solvent water were largely affected by both time and the ‘life path’ of the samples. In particular, we evidenced two new experimental phenomena characterizing the EDS: the presence of a series of maximums in the measured electrical conductivity vs. the sample age; the dependence of said maximums on the volume of the EDS during its ageing. All of these new experimental results clearly suggest the presence of an extended and ‘ordered’ dynamics involving the whole of the water molecules in the liquid. A temporal evolution, featuring three maximums in the course of four years of ageing and the dependence on the ageing volumes do not fit the framework of classical thermodynamics. It therefore seems appropriate to interpret these phenomena on the basis of the thermodynamics of dissipative structures, which are far from equilibrium systems.