Use of Microwave Techniques for the Determination of Bound Water

Abstract

ANY information, about changes in the structure of molecular arrays which are reflected in changes of the water substance is useful to form a guideline for future work that tries to investigate the actual atomic and molecular basis of life. An accurate and relatively fast method has been developed which can assess the occurrence of a quantity called bound water. These bound-water molecules are defined by the fact that they are unable to follow the changing electric field of an applied microwave signal, indicating thereby that they are either bound to 3 or 4 other molecules of the same kind, or to various other types of molecules. The remaining water molecules (those bound to 2, 1 or no other water molecules) that are free to rotate with the impressed electromagnetic field absorb energy from the incident microwave signal. The difference between the two microwave signals can be interpreted to be an indication of the amount of water bound to a particular molecule.