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Phase transition: Cold as ice

Nature Reviews Chemistry volume 1, Article number: 0009 (2017) Cite this article

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The physical properties of water change when it is confined in nanometre spaces, such as the interior of a carbon nanotube (CNT). Here, water can freeze at temperatures above 100 °C, as reported by Michael Strano and colleagues in Nature Nanotechnology.

Water behaving differently when confined in CNTs has already been predicted by computational studies. Furthermore, previous experiments by Strano et al. showed that ion transport rates within a CNT are dependent on tube diameter — an additional indication that a CNT can induce changes in water structure and, in turn, affect the ionic flow. However, the shift in melting temperature of pure water and its dependence on CNT diameter has not been measured until now. “These effects were much larger than anticipated,” says Jesse Benck, postdoctoral researcher in Strano's group and expert in the field. “It was very surprising to find that the freezing point, which could be increased by more than 100 °C, is substantially affected by even small differences in tube diameter.”

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References

  1. Agrawal, K. V. et al. Observation of extreme phase transition temperatures of water confined inside isolated carbon nanotubes. Nat. Nanotechnol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2016.254 (2016)

  2. Choi, W. et al. Diameter-dependent ion transport through the interior of isolated single-walled carbon. Nat. Commun. 4, 2397 (2013)

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  1. Gabriella Graziano
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Graziano, G. Phase transition: Cold as ice. Nat Rev Chem 1, 0009 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-016-0009

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-016-0009

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