An animated hydrogen-bonded chain of water molecules showing how an excess proton propagates by a cascading sequence of bond hops, rather than by one particle physically traveling the full distance, alongside a direct speed comparison against conventional ion diffusion.
Adjust hydrogen-bond network connectivity and temperature to see how an intact, dynamic network is required for fast hopping, run the side-by-side comparison against an ordinary diffusing ion, and toggle between proton (H3O+) and hydroxide (OH-) transport modes to compare the two anomalously fast species.
Sliders for hydrogen-bond network connectivity and temperature, a mode toggle between H3O+ (proton) and OH- (hydroxide) transport, a comparison toggle against conventional ion diffusion, and a hop counter with effective transport speed readout.
Theodor Grotthuss proposed his relay idea in 1806, more than eighty years before the electron was discovered and over a century before hydrogen bonding was formally described, yet ab-initio quantum simulations run two centuries later confirmed the core of his intuition was essentially correct.
An animated hydrogen-bonded chain of water molecules showing how an excess proton propagates by a cascading sequence of bond hops, rather than by one particle physically traveling the full distance, alongside a direct speed comparison against conventional ion diffusion.
An animated hydrogen-bonded chain of water molecules showing how an excess proton propagates by a cascading sequence of bond hops, rather than by one particle physically traveling the full distance, alongside a direct speed comparison against conventional ion diffusion.
Adjust hydrogen-bond network connectivity and temperature to see how an intact, dynamic network is required for fast hopping, run the side-by-side comparison against an ordinary diffusing ion, and toggle between proton (H3O+) and hydroxide (OH-) transport modes to compare the two anomalously fast species.
Theodor Grotthuss proposed his relay idea in 1806, more than eighty years before the electron was discovered and over a century before hydrogen bonding was formally described, yet ab-initio quantum simulations run two centuries later confirmed the core of his intuition was essentially correct.