Changes in the structure of water deduced from the pressure dependence of the Raman OH frequency

J Chem Phys. 2004 Apr 1;120(13):5867-70. doi: 10.1063/1.1689639.

Abstract

We report on the Raman spectra of water under high temperature and pressure conditions and show a discontinuity in the pressure dependence of the OH stretching frequency. As pressure increases, the strength of hydrogen bonding increases rapidly in the pressure ranges up to 0.4+/-0.1 GPa at 25 degrees C, 1.0+/-0.1 GPa at 100 degrees C, and 1.3+/-0.1 GPa at 300 degrees C and slowly above these pressures. This finding clearly demonstrates the existence of discontinuities in the pressure response of the hydrogen bonds of water, which suggests a possible structural change under these conditions.