Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Surface crystallization of amorphous solid water.

Ellen H G Backus1, Mihail L Grecea, Aart W Kleyn

  • 1Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9502, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands.

Physical Review Letters
|July 13, 2004
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Entropic-dielectric interplay governs ion adsorption in inner electric double layers.

Science advances·2026
Same author

Spiers Memorial Lecture: Vibrations at interfaces.

Faraday discussions·2026
Same author

Phase Diagram of 2D Poly(Ethylene Oxide)-<i>block</i>-Poly(Propylene Oxide)-<i>block</i>-Poly(Ethylene Oxide)─Poly(Dimethylsiloxane) Blends: A Combined Neutron Reflectometry and Sum Frequency Generation Study.

Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids·2026
Same author

Interactions at Aqueous Mineral Interfaces: Insights from Nonlinear Optical Spectroscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy.

Annual review of physical chemistry·2026
Same author

Thermodynamic Prediction of Phase Separation in Polymer Blends at the Air-Water Interface.

Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids·2026
Same author

pH-dependent orientation of pyruvic acid and interfacial water at the air-water interface: Insights from sum-frequency generation spectroscopy and molecular dynamics.

The Journal of chemical physics·2025
Same journal

Erratum: Spectroscopy and Ground-State Transfer of Ultracold Bosonic ^{39}K^{133}Cs Molecules [Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 203401 (2025)].

Physical review letters·2026
Same journal

Erratum: Lifetime of the ^{2}F_{7/2} Level in Yb^{+} for Spontaneous Emission of Electric Octupole Radiation [Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 213001 (2021)].

Physical review letters·2026
Same journal

Laser-Plasma Based Seeded Free Electron Laser in the High-Gain Regime.

Physical review letters·2026
Same journal

Parent Hamiltonians for Stabilizer Quantum Many-Body Scars.

Physical review letters·2026
Same journal

Properties of Heavy Cosmic Nuclei Phosphorus, Chlorine, Argon, Potassium, and Calcium: Results from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.

Physical review letters·2026
Same journal

Role of Spin-Isospin Symmetries in Nuclear β-Decays.

Physical review letters·2026
See all related articles

The crystallization of thin amorphous solid water layers begins at the surface, not the interface. This surface-initiated process was confirmed through sequential crystallization observations and modeling.

Area of Science:

  • Physical Chemistry
  • Materials Science
  • Surface Science

Background:

  • Amorphous solid water (ASW) is a metastable phase of water relevant to various scientific fields.
  • Understanding the crystallization mechanisms of ASW is crucial for fields like atmospheric science and astrochemistry.
  • Previous studies have proposed different nucleation sites for ASW crystallization, lacking definitive consensus.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the primary site of nucleation for the crystallization of thin, supported amorphous solid water layers.
  • To elucidate the sequential crystallization process within amorphous solid water films.
  • To develop and validate a model that accurately describes the kinetics of amorphous solid water crystallization.

Main Methods:

  • Experimental observation of amorphous solid water crystallization on a support.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Monitoring of crystallization progression at the surface, bulk, and interface.
  • Quantitative analysis using a surface nucleation model.

    • Main Results:

    • Crystallization of amorphous solid water is initiated at the surface.
    • Sequential crystallization occurs from the surface inwards, followed by the water-support interface.
    • The surface nucleation model accurately reproduces the observed crystallization kinetics.

    Conclusions:

    • The surface of amorphous solid water acts as the primary nucleation site for crystallization.
    • The observed crystallization kinetics are consistent with a surface-initiated process.
    • This finding provides a fundamental understanding of water phase transitions in thin films.