Study of hydrogen bonding interactions in ethylene glycol-water binary solutions by Raman spectroscopy

EG (ethylene glycol) is a good model system for the study of the fundamental hydrogen bonds in aqueous solutions. Using Raman spectroscopy, we have investigated the EG volume fraction induced variation in the hydrogen bonding interactions and conformations of EG-H2O (water) binary solutions. New hydrogen bonding networks is evidenced by the appearance of remarkable changes in Raman spectra and the full width at half maximum (FWHM) when the mixing volume ratio is 0.5. The H-bond in water molecules firstly strengthened and then weakened with the increasing concentration of EG. Meanwhile, the dominant association structure also changed from H2O-H2O to EG-H2O in binary solutions in this process. We provide a simple but effective method for studying EG-H2O binary solutions. It also has exciting potential prospects and can be easily extended to other mixing situations. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study investigated the variations in hydrogen bonding interactions and conformations of EG-H2O binary solutions induced by EG volume fraction using Raman spectroscopy. Remarkable changes in hydrogen bonding networks were observed at a mixing volume ratio of 0.5, with water molecules' hydrogen bonds initially strengthening and then weakening with increasing EG concentration, leading to a shift in dominant association structure from H2O-H2O to EG-H2O in the binary solutions. This study presents a simple yet effective method for studying EG-H2O binary solutions, which shows promising potential and can be easily applied to other mixing scenarios.