Terahertz Vibrational Modes of Inverse Micelles

Introduction The properties of water confined on the nanometer scale are important in a diverse range of disciplines. Many processes in biology and chemistry occur within water cavities of nanometersized dimensions. Biological macromolecules, most notably proteins, not only function in aqueous environments but also contain large fractions of water within their structure. This "bound" water can consist of only a few water molecules or more than several hundred. Its presence is crucial for many functions of biological systems; 1-10 yet, the most basic properties, such as density and dielectric constant, cannot readily be characterized in-situ. Confined water is also frequently encountered in areas of materials processing. Many high surface area catalysts possess small cavities where chemical reactions are accelerated; 11-13 quantitative predictions for reaction rates in these systems require some estimate of the solvent's properties. Also, nanoscale reactors defined by inverse mice