Structural evolution of water-in-propylene carbonate mixtures revealed by polarized Raman spectroscopy and molecular dynamics.

The liquid structure of systems wherein water is limited in concentration or through geometry is of great interest in various fields such as biology, materials science, and electrochemistry. Here, we present a combined polarized Raman and molecular dynamics investigation of the structural changes that occur as water is added incrementally to propylene carbonate (PC), a polar, aprotic solvent that is important in lithium-ion batteries. Polarized Raman spectra of PC solutions were collected for water mole fractions 0.