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Updated: Jun 26, 2025
08:01
A Microfluidic Approach for the Study of Ice and Clathrate Hydrate Crystallization
Published on: August 18, 2022
3.1K
Flash melting amorphous ice
Nathan J Mowry1, Constantin R Krüger1, Gabriele Bongiovanni1
1Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Laboratory of Molecular Nanodynamics, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
The Journal of Chemical Physics
|May 9, 2024
Summary
Researchers discovered that flash melting amorphous ice with lasers causes it to crystallize, even at rapid heating rates. This contrasts with rapid cooling, which achieves vitrification, offering new insights into water
Area of Science:
- Physical Chemistry
- Materials Science
- Biophysics
Background:
- Water can be vitrified (formed into glass) by rapid cooling, avoiding crystallization in the 'no man's land' of deeply supercooled states.
- Understanding water's behavior in this supercooled regime is crucial for various scientific fields, including cryo-electron microscopy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the reverse process of vitrification: flash melting of amorphous ice using microsecond laser pulses.
- To elucidate the crystallization mechanisms of water under extreme heating conditions.
Main Methods:
- Flash melting of pure water samples (amorphous ice) using high-power microsecond laser pulses.
- Time-resolved electron diffraction to observe structural changes during and after laser heating.
- Comparison of crystallization kinetics between amorphous solid water and hyperquenched glassy water.
Main Results:
- Transient crystallization of water was observed despite extremely high heating rates (> 5 × 10^6 K/s).
- This crystallization occurred even though similar cooling rates (10^7 K/s) can achieve vitrification.
- Distinct crystallization kinetics were identified for different forms of amorphous ice.
Conclusions:
- The study reveals unexpected crystallization behavior during rapid laser-induced melting of amorphous ice.
- Findings challenge assumptions about water's phase transitions and provide new data on its dynamics in 'no man's land'.
- These results are vital for advancing microsecond time-resolved cryo-electron microscopy techniques.
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