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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Determining the Ice-binding Planes of Antifreeze Proteins by Fluorescence-based Ice Plane Affinity

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Published on: January 15, 2014

Reversible structure transformation in ice nanocluster.

Kengo Nishio¹, Masuhiro Mikami

¹Research Institute for Computational Sciences, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Central 2, Umezono 1-1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568, Japan. k-nishio@aist.go.jp

The Journal of Chemical Physics

|April 25, 2009

Summary

Nanosized water clusters exhibit unique behaviors not seen in bulk ice. Molecular dynamics simulations show that small ice structures dynamically change and coexist in various solid-like phases, even at low temperatures.

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Area of Science:

Physical Chemistry
Nanotechnology
Materials Science

Background:

Bulk water freezes into a stable solid phase (ice) upon cooling.
Phase transitions in bulk water are well-understood and typically require heating above the melting point to reverse.
The behavior of water at the nanoscale can differ significantly from its bulk properties.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the phase behavior of nanosized water clusters.
To explore non-bulk-like phenomena in ice nanoclusters using molecular dynamics.
To characterize the structural dynamics and coexisting phases of small water clusters.

Main Methods:

Molecular-dynamics simulations were employed.
The TIP4P water potential was used for simulations.
Simulations were conducted for (H2O)20 nanoclusters over 100 microseconds.

Main Results:

Nanosized ice clusters exhibit reversible structural changes.
A variety of solid-like phases dynamically coexist within the nanocluster.
Observed structures include bilayer prisms, ice nanotubes (square and pentagonal), and fullerene-like cages.
These diverse phases exist even at temperatures significantly below the bulk melting point (down to 52%).

Conclusions:

Nanoscale ice does not behave like bulk ice, displaying unique structural flexibility.
The dynamic coexistence of multiple solid-like phases is a characteristic feature of water nanoclusters.
These findings challenge conventional understanding of ice phase behavior at the nanoscale.