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Water's size-dependent freezing to cubic ice.

G P Johari1

  • 1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4L7, Canada. joharig@mcmaster.ca

The Journal of Chemical Physics
|September 16, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Water droplets and films smaller than critical sizes freeze into cubic ice, while larger ones form hexagonal ice. This explains the presence of cubic ice in the atmosphere and nanoconfined water systems.

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Area of Science:

  • Physical Chemistry
  • Materials Science
  • Atmospheric Science

Background:

  • Water occasionally freezes into cubic ice, a phenomenon not fully explained thermodynamically.
  • The presence of cubic ice in the atmosphere and nanoconfined systems requires a thermodynamic basis for its formation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To thermodynamically investigate the conditions under which water freezes to cubic ice.
  • To determine critical size parameters for the phase transition between cubic and hexagonal ice.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized known enthalpy and interfacial energy data for hexagonal and cubic ices.
  • Calculated critical radius (r(c)) for water droplets and critical thickness (δ(c)) for water films.

Main Results:

  • Determined a critical radius of approximately 15 nm for water droplets.
  • Calculated a critical thickness of approximately 10 nm for water films.
  • Established that smaller droplets/films (<15 nm radius, <10 nm thickness) freeze to cubic ice between 160-220 K, while larger ones form hexagonal ice.

Conclusions:

  • Provided a thermodynamic basis for the occasional presence of cubic ice in the atmosphere.
  • Explained why nanometer-sized water clusters and water in nanoconfined pores freeze to cubic ice.
  • Discussed factors influencing the cubic ice-hexagonal ice phase inversion, including impurities and proton ordering.

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