Inherent Promotion of Ionic Conductivity via Collective Vibrational Strong Coupling of Water with the Vacuum Electromagnetic Field
Tomohiro Fukushima, Soushi Yoshimitsu, Kei Murakoshi
Abstract
Hydrogen bonding interactions among water molecules play a critical role in chemical reactivity, dynamic proton mobility, static dielectric behavior, and the thermodynamic properties of water. In this study, we demonstrate the modification of ionic conductivity of water through hybridization with a vacuum electromagnetic field by strongly coupling the O─H stretching mode of H2O to a Fabry–Perot cavity mode. The hybridization generates collective vibro-polaritonic states, thereby enhancing the proton conductivity by an order of magnitude at resonance. In addition, the dielectric constants increase at resonance in the coupled state. The findings presented herein reveal how a vacuum electromagnetic environment can be engineered to control the ground-state properties of water.