Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 11, 2025

A Microfluidic Approach for the Study of Ice and Clathrate Hydrate Crystallization
Published on: August 18, 2022
Freezing, melting and dynamics of supercooled water confined in porous glass
R Neffati1,2, P Judeinstein3,4, J Rault3
1Department of Physics, King Khalid University, PO Box 9032, Abha 61413-Saudi Arabia.
Abstract:
The freezing, melting and dynamics of supercooled water at different hydration of controlled porous glass with mean pore sizes 10 nm, 30 nm, 50 nm and 70 nm are studied using differential scanning calorimetry and deuteruim nuclear magnetic resonance (2H-NMR). For saturated samples, the melting temperature follows the Gibbs-Thomson relation despite a clear linear decrease of the melting enthalpy when the transition is shifted due to confinement. For partially filled porous glasses the crystallization and melting temperatures as well as enthalpies are lower than for the saturated samples.2H-NMR confirms the existence of a non-crystallizable part of water adsorbed on the surface of pores. At room temperature, spin-lattice relaxation rate (1/T1) is proportional to the inverse of the mean pore size indicating that the relaxation is governed by a surface limited process. At low temperature relaxation rate follows the Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann (VFT) relation.
Related Concept Videos
Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing
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...
Heating and Cooling Curves
For instance, the addition of heat raises the temperature of a solid; the amount of heat absorbed depends on the heat capacity of the solid (q = mcsolidΔT). According to thermochemistry, the relation between the amount of heat absorbed or released by a substance, q, and its...
Phase Transitions: Vaporization and Condensation
Phase Diagrams
Freezing Point Depression and Boiling Point Elevation
The boiling point of a liquid is the temperature at which its vapor pressure is equal to ambient atmospheric pressure. Since the vapor pressure of a solution is lowered due to the presence of nonvolatile solutes, it stands to reason that the solution’s boiling point will subsequently be increased. Vapor pressure increases with temperature, and so a solution will require a higher temperature than will pure solvent to achieve any given vapor pressure, including one...

