Structural transformation in supercooled water controls the crystallization rate of ice

Emily B. Moore and Valeria Molinero ()
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Emily B. Moore: University of Utah
Valeria Molinero: University of Utah

Nature, 2011, vol. 479, issue 7374, 506-508

Abstract: How water forms ice The various anomalous properties of water have puzzled scientists for decades, and many hypotheses have been put forward to explain their origin. One mystery is the question of what determines the lowest temperature to which water can be cooled before it freezes to ice. Rapid crystallization at low temperatures hampers experimental studies, and simulations are usually prohibitively costly in terms of computer time. Using a simple water model that allows demanding calculations, Emily Moore and Valeria Molinero now show that a sharp increase in the fraction of four-coordinated molecules in supercooled liquid water controls the rate and mechanism of ice formation. The structural change also results in a peak in the rate of crystallization at 225 K; below this temperature, ice nuclei form faster than liquid water can equilibrate. This finding explains the observed thermodynamic anomalies, and why homogeneous ice nucleation rates depend on the thermodynamics of water.

Date: 2011
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DOI: 10.1038/nature10586

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