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Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Probing the Structure and Dynamics of Interfacial Water with Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Spectroscopy
Published on: May 27, 2018
Evidence for the surface origin of point defects in ice: control of interior proton activity by adsorbates
1Department of Chemistry, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma 74078, USA.
Abstract:
Spectroscopic studies are presented of H-D isotopic exchange in the interior of ice nanocrystals. The exchange process is dominated by ionic and orientational defects long viewed as governing the electrical properties of ice. A new finding that interior exchange rates can be controlled by acidic and basic adsorbates is evidence that the defects originate at the ice surface. In particular, it is argued that interior isotopic exchange is a reflection of proton concentrations equilibrated at the ice surface.
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