Experimental study of D/H isotopic fractionation factor of water adsorbed on porous silica tubes

This paper presents D/H isotopic fractionation factor measurements of water adsorbed on porous silica tubes in isotopic equilibrium with water vapor. The fractionation factor is measured as a function of vapor pressure ranging from 10% to 80% RH (relative humidity) at room temperature. It is shown that the fractionation factor between the adsorption film or nanometrically confined water and vapor is smaller than that between bulk liquid water and vapor. A qualitative analysis relates this deuterium depletion to a modification of the zero-point energy of the water isomers in the adsorbed/confined state. Furthermore, the behavior of the fractionation factor with RH shows two different linear trends. The transition between the two (at 60% RH) may indicate the transition from a two-dimensional adsorbed water to a three-dimensional water network.