Some researchers suggest that the exclusion zone is due to a change in the geometrical structure of water, induced by the surface of the hydrophilic (or metal) solid water's structure.
In this model, the  water in the exclusion zone has a structure of hexagonal sheets, where the hydrogen atoms are positioned between oxygen atoms. Moreover,  hydrogen atoms bond to the oxygens atoms lying in the layer above and below so that in total each hydrogen forms three bonds. This structure can be considered as an intermediate between ice and water. However, the hexagonal sheet hypothesis does not account for all aspects of the exclusion zone, and it is not supported by the majority of physicists.