Study of the dynamical properties of water in disaccharide solutions

This work presents quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) and neutron spin echo (NSE) findings on homologous disaccharide (i.e. trehalose, maltose and sucrose)/water solutions as a function of temperature. The dynamical properties of these systems are investigated by QENS, which, on the picosecond scale, allows for the characterisation of the diffusion of both solutes and solvent. On the other hand, NSE investigates the dynamics on the nanosecond scale, allowing for the relaxation times of the disaccharide/water systems to be evaluated. The experimental data highlight a strong slowing down of water in the presence of disaccharides. The whole set of findings indicates, therefore, a noticeable disaccharide-water interaction, which is more intense in the case of trehalose. This feature can justify its higher bioprotective effectiveness.