Water interactions with materials can dramatically change their properties, but the solute material also changes the properties of water. Here, a Solvation Shell-Liquid Solvate (SSLS) model is presented that provides a molecular-based description of water interacting with sucrose and cellulose for which multiple types of water are identified. Bound water most significantly changes the specific material’s properties, whereas the hard-to-remove water, i.e., water that is significantly modified by the influence of the solute, is responsible for bulk properties such as the system’s liquidus. Both types of water are significantly distinct from classical descriptions that treat solvents as an inert medium. This model provides the molecular basis for the insights into the molecular architecture of water-cellulose networks described in this issue of Matter and further provides a framework that can generally be applied to diverse aqueous systems.

水与材料的相互作用可以显着改变它们的特性，但溶质材料也会改变水的特性。在这里，提出了一种溶剂化壳-液体溶剂化物 (SSLS) 模型，该模型提供了水与蔗糖和纤维素相互作用的基于分子的描述，其中识别了多种类型的水。结合水最显着地改变了特定材料的特性，而难以去除的水，即受溶质影响显着改变的水，负责整体特性，例如系统的液相线。两种类型的水都与将溶剂视为惰性介质的经典描述截然不同。该模型为深入了解本期杂志中描述的水-纤维素网络的分子结构提供了分子基础Matter和进一步提供了一个框架，该框架通常可以应用于不同的水性系统。