Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Determining the Ice-binding Planes of Antifreeze Proteins by Fluorescence-based Ice Plane Affinity
Published on: January 15, 2014
Two-dimensional nucleation of ice from supercooled water
1Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-1560, USA.
Abstract:
We report the temperature dependent nucleation rates of ice from single water drops supporting aliphatic alcohol Langmuir films. Analysis in the context of a classical theory of heterogeneous nucleation suggests that the critical nucleus is essentially a monolayer, and that the rate-limiting steps in these nucleation processes are therefore not merely influenced by, but instead dictated by, the physics of the water-alcohol interface. Consequently, reduced dimensionality may be much more important in heterogeneous nucleation than has previously been believed.
Related Concept Videos
States of Water
Water freezes when the intermolecular forces are greater than the kinetic energy. Unlike most other substances, water is less dense in its solid state than in its liquid state. This is because each water molecule can form...
Phase Transitions: Vaporization and Condensation
Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing
Recrystallization: Solid–Solution Equilibria
Crystal Growth: Principles of Crystallization
Initiating crystallization involves manipulating the concentration of the solute and the temperature of the solution. Since crystal growth occurs when the ratio of concentration and solubility of the solute in the solvent – the...
Sublimation

