Scientists release world's first footage of a water molecule forming out of thin air

A team of scientists has captured a molecular-scale video of hydrogen and oxygen atoms magically fusing to form a water molecule or H20.

Scientists release world's first footage of a water molecule forming out of thin air
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Tech and Science Editor
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TL;DR: Researchers from Northwestern University have observed the formation of a water molecule on the nanoscale for the first time. Using palladium to catalyze the reaction, they witnessed hydrogen and oxygen atoms merging to form H2O.

Water is something we interact with every day, but where does it come from and how is it formed? Researchers have captured the event of a water molecule forming on the nanoscale, showcasing hydrogen and oxygen fusing together to form H20.

Researchers from Northwestern University penned a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America and a press release on the Northwestern website discussing the scientific achievement in more natural language. According to the press release, this is the first time researchers have witnessed the formation of tiny water bubbles in real-time or the evolutionary process of two hydrogen atoms merging with an oxygen atom to form H20 or water.

The team was able to do this through the use of a rare metallic element called palladium, which catalyzes the gaseous reaction to form the water molecule. Here's what happened. Using a special ultra-thin glassy membrane that can contain the molecules and be attached to a high-vacuum electron microscope, the researchers were able to see the two hydrogen atoms enter the palladium element, expanding its material structure. Shortly after, a water bubble formed on the surface of the palladium.

"We think it might be the smallest bubble ever formed that has been viewed directly," Liu said. "It's not what we were expecting. Luckily, we were recording it, so we could prove to other people that we weren't crazy."

"Think of Matt Damon's character, Mark Watney, in the movie 'The Martian,'" said study senior author Vinayak Dravid. "He burned rocket fuel to extract hydrogen and then added oxygen from his oxygenator. Our process is analogous, except we bypass the need for fire and other extreme conditions. We simply mixed palladium and gases together."

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Jak joined the TweakTown team in 2017 and has since reviewed 100s of new tech products and kept us informed daily on the latest science, space, and artificial intelligence news. Jak's love for science, space, and technology, and, more specifically, PC gaming, began at 10 years old. It was the day his dad showed him how to play Age of Empires on an old Compaq PC. Ever since that day, Jak fell in love with games and the progression of the technology industry in all its forms.

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