Unconventional ice nucleation pathway induced by irregular silver iodide surfaces
Abstract In nature, water freezes predominantly in a heterogeneous manner. Silver iodide (AgI) serves as one of the most universal and efficient ice nucleating agents. Despite the acknowledged influence of factors like low lattice mismatch and surface dipole fields on the rapid freezing of water on...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Communications Physics |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-024-01929-7 |
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| author | Yaochen Yu Mingyi Chen Yuefeng Lei Haiyang Niu |
| author_facet | Yaochen Yu Mingyi Chen Yuefeng Lei Haiyang Niu |
| author_sort | Yaochen Yu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract In nature, water freezes predominantly in a heterogeneous manner. Silver iodide (AgI) serves as one of the most universal and efficient ice nucleating agents. Despite the acknowledged influence of factors like low lattice mismatch and surface dipole fields on the rapid freezing of water on AgI surfaces, one commonly neglects the impact of irregular surfaces on nucleation mechanisms. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we explore heterogeneous ice nucleation on irregular AgI surfaces. Unlike the prevailing view, our study reveals an unconventional nucleation pathway where water molecules align themselves with spatially inhomogeneous dipole field near irregular AgI surfaces. This alignment is triggered by a deviation in orientation between the water molecular dipole and the spatial dipole field generated by AgI substrates, leading to the crystallisation of distinct metastable ice phases. These findings promote our understanding of ice nucleation on AgI surfaces, highlighting the role of surface roughness in the molecular-level phase transitions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b77ea80c9a634c729d942f17f3af1fa7 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2399-3650 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Physics |
| spelling | doaj-art-b77ea80c9a634c729d942f17f3af1fa72025-01-05T12:32:41ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Physics2399-36502025-01-01811710.1038/s42005-024-01929-7Unconventional ice nucleation pathway induced by irregular silver iodide surfacesYaochen Yu0Mingyi Chen1Yuefeng Lei2Haiyang Niu3State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, International Centre for Materials Discovery, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical UniversityState Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, International Centre for Materials Discovery, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical UniversityState Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, International Centre for Materials Discovery, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical UniversityState Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, International Centre for Materials Discovery, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical UniversityAbstract In nature, water freezes predominantly in a heterogeneous manner. Silver iodide (AgI) serves as one of the most universal and efficient ice nucleating agents. Despite the acknowledged influence of factors like low lattice mismatch and surface dipole fields on the rapid freezing of water on AgI surfaces, one commonly neglects the impact of irregular surfaces on nucleation mechanisms. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we explore heterogeneous ice nucleation on irregular AgI surfaces. Unlike the prevailing view, our study reveals an unconventional nucleation pathway where water molecules align themselves with spatially inhomogeneous dipole field near irregular AgI surfaces. This alignment is triggered by a deviation in orientation between the water molecular dipole and the spatial dipole field generated by AgI substrates, leading to the crystallisation of distinct metastable ice phases. These findings promote our understanding of ice nucleation on AgI surfaces, highlighting the role of surface roughness in the molecular-level phase transitions.https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-024-01929-7 |
| spellingShingle | Yaochen Yu Mingyi Chen Yuefeng Lei Haiyang Niu Unconventional ice nucleation pathway induced by irregular silver iodide surfaces Communications Physics |
| title | Unconventional ice nucleation pathway induced by irregular silver iodide surfaces |
| title_full | Unconventional ice nucleation pathway induced by irregular silver iodide surfaces |
| title_fullStr | Unconventional ice nucleation pathway induced by irregular silver iodide surfaces |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unconventional ice nucleation pathway induced by irregular silver iodide surfaces |
| title_short | Unconventional ice nucleation pathway induced by irregular silver iodide surfaces |
| title_sort | unconventional ice nucleation pathway induced by irregular silver iodide surfaces |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-024-01929-7 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yaochenyu unconventionalicenucleationpathwayinducedbyirregularsilveriodidesurfaces AT mingyichen unconventionalicenucleationpathwayinducedbyirregularsilveriodidesurfaces AT yuefenglei unconventionalicenucleationpathwayinducedbyirregularsilveriodidesurfaces AT haiyangniu unconventionalicenucleationpathwayinducedbyirregularsilveriodidesurfaces |