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Redefining the dielectric response of nanoconfined liquids: Insights from water

Jon Zubeltzu1,*, Fernando Bresme2, Matthew Dawber3, Marivi Fernandez-Serra3, and Emilio Artacho4,5,6

  • *Contact author: jon.zubeltzu@ehu.eus
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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 043101 – Published 27 October, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/qp52-s5d5

Abstract

Recent experiments show that the relative dielectric constant ε of water confined to a film of nanometric thickness reaches a strikingly low value of 2.1, barely above the bulk's 1.8 value for the purely electronic response. We argue that ε is not a well-defined measure for dielectric properties at subnanometer scales due to the ambiguous definition of confinement width. Instead, we propose the 2D polarizability α⊥ as the appropriate, well-defined response function whose magnitude can be directly obtained from both measurements and computations. Once the appropriate description is used, understanding the interplay between electronic and ionic contributions becomes critical, contrary to what is widely assumed. This highlights the importance of electronic degrees of freedom in interpreting the dielectric response of polar fluids under nanoconfinement conditions, as revealed by molecular dynamics simulations.

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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 043101– Published 27 October, 2025
  • Received 2 December 2024
  • Accepted 2 October 2025
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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