A surface force apparatus has been used to investigate the fluidity of water confined between two mica surfaces. The observed normal surfaces forces F(D), where D is separation, were fitted to the expression of Derjaguin Landau Verwey Overbeek theory. The abrupt jump-in from separation Dj=3–5 nm to flat adhesive contact was recorded and examined; this is due to an instability expected whenever F/D≥K, where K is the constant of the normal spring. A speed decrease in the range 0–1.5 nm during the jump-in was observed, and indicated orders of magnitude increase of the viscosity with respect to bulk water.
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