Mesmerizing nanoscale video shows oxygen and hydrogen atoms forming water

Have you ever wondered what it looks like when a water molecule forms? Well, now you can finally see it in action, as scientists captured a molecular-scale video of that very famous meeting when hydrogen and oxygen fuse to become H2O. Further, the scientists believe the method witnessed in the video could help them find new ways to generate massive amounts of drinking water.

The process is made possible thanks to the interactions between palladium and gaseous hydrogen and oxygen. This rare element has proven a great catalyst for fusing the two into water. However, we’ve never really understood how it works. That’s why researchers at Northwestern University set out to find a way to watch at a molecular scale.

To pull off this new video and showcase what it looks like when water molecules form, the scientists took samples of palladium and placed them into honeycomb-shaped nanoreactors. These nanoreactors were then encased in an ultra-thin bit of glass. After the setup was built, the researchers began slowly introducing the gases. The entire thing was then watched using a high-vacuum transmission electron microscope.

The scientists involved in the study say this may likely be the smallest bubble that has ever been viewed directly as it formed. They also say it wasn’t what they were expecting, but thankfully, they were recording when it happened, so they were able to prove exactly what it looked like.

You can view the resulting video for yourself above. It’s a front-row seat to a nanoscale operation, which allows you to watch as the water molecule forms out of thin air thanks to the reactions caused by the palladium when the gases reach it. Further experiments allowed the researchers to figure out exactly how to produce water using palladium.

The hope is that by learning what this reaction looks like—and even how to reproduce it—the researchers can find new ways to produce drinking water on demand. We’ve already seen devices that can create water out of thin air, though finding new ways to make that happen is always going to be something worth exploring and experimenting with.