Researchers used antifreeze and a refrigerated microscope to directly observe the ice-liquid interface for the first time.
“Through various trial and error processes, we found that we had to cool the entire microscope system in a cooling box, and it took some ingenuity to ensure that the atomic force microscope, a precision measuring instrument, could operate stably at sub-zero temperatures,” explains ONISHI Hiroshi.For the first time, researchers from Kobe University led by ONISHI Hiroshi observe the precise shape of ice at the interface between ice and liquid.
They experimented with different types of liquids, also, to understand how they affect the surface of ice. As ice is surrounded by liquid most of the time, which is why ice is slippery, the key to understanding this mysterious relationship between ice and liquid lies in zooming in on this liquid layer .Researchers state that they first came up with the idea to measure ice in antifreeze with temperatures lower than 0°C.
While ice without surrounding liquid features so-called “frost pillars” about 20 nanometers tall, in 1-octanol antifreeze the ice is perfectly flat with occasional steps only one molecular layer high. In different liquids with similar properties, the ice surface looks different in each case, underscoring the importance of directly measuring the interface. ,” the researchers were quoted.
“We expect to increase the resolution of the microscope to single water molecules and use measurement methods other than atomic force microscopy. In this way, we hope to expand the range of possible applications of molecular-level measurements of the ice-antifreeze interface,” they conclude in, no matter what, is covered with liquid water which turns out to be a phenomenon. Interestingly, scientists don’t yet know why there is always a thin layer of water on the surface of ice.
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