Shedding light on the formation of nanodroplets in aqueous solutions of polar organics

Researchers have shed new light on the heterogeneous nature of a polar organic liquid mixed with water. They used laser light as a tool that allowed them to demonstrate the existence of stable nanodroplets of tetrahydrofuran in the bulk of aqueous electrolyte solutions and to develop a new theory that explains the spontaneous generation of heterogeneous nanoparticles in aqueous solutions of polar organic solutes in terms of nanodroplet formation due to “twinkling” hydrogen bonds.