Article abstract
Nature Materials 8, 427 - 431 (2009)
Published online: 8 March 2009 | doi:10.1038/nmat2403
Subject Categories: Surface and thin films | Computation, modelling and theory
A one-dimensional ice structure built from pentagons
Javier Carrasco1,2, Angelos Michaelides1,2, Matthew Forster3, Sam Haq3, Rasmita Raval3 & Andrew Hodgson3
Abstract
Heterogeneous ice nucleation has a key role in fields as diverse as atmospheric chemistry and biology. Ice nucleation on metal surfaces affords an opportunity to watch this process unfold at the molecular scale on a well-defined, planar interface. A common feature of structural models for such films is that they are built from hexagonal arrangements of molecules. Here we show, through a combination of scanning tunnelling microscopy, infrared spectroscopy and density-functional theory, that about 1-nm-wide ice chains that nucleate on Cu(110) are not built from hexagons, but instead are built from a face-sharing arrangement of water pentagons. The pentagon structure is favoured over others because it maximizes the water–metal bonding while maintaining a strong hydrogen-bonding network. It reveals an unanticipated structural adaptability of water–ice films, demonstrating that the presence of the substrate can be sufficient to favour non-hexagonal structural units.
- Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Faradayweg 4-6, D-14195 Berlin, Germany
- Materials Simulation Laboratory, London Centre for Nanotechnology and Department of Chemistry, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
- Surface Science Research Centre, The University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3BX, UK
Correspondence to: Angelos Michaelides1,2 e-mail: angelos.michaelides@ucl.ac.uk
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