Scientists have created ice at room temperature, potentially explaining a mysterious variation in the temperature at which clouds form.
By exposing water to a weak electric field, they have produced what is being called "hot ice". The discovery could answer a question that has perplexed atmospheric scientists for years: why the temperature at which water droplets stick to dust and turn to ice to form clouds varies according to whether the dust particles have been through the process before.
South Korean researchers were surprised that the field needed to create ice at room temperature was only 106 volts per metre, a strength low enough to be found in nature.
If these "mini icebergs" are hiding in cracks in rocks and clay particles and in crevices in proteins in our bodies, their presence could help explain a number of natural processes.
Denys Wheatley, a cell biologist at
Aberdeen University, said: "Ice at room temperature just should not happen.
"Water is the crucible of life. Everything else is buzzing around in it. It seems that this most common of liquids in our bodies is one of the least understood."
In 2003 a computer simulation carried out by Dutch biophysicists suggested that, by introducing an electric field, it should be possible to impose an orderly structure on the hydrogen and oxygen atoms in water molecules, freezing it at room temperature.
Eun-Mi Choi and colleagues at Seoul National University created ice at room temperature by trapping a thin layer of water between a metal plate and a thin metal tip. When the tip was moved downwards while a weak electric field was applied, it hit ice at 0.7 nanometres below the plate.
The research was published in the American journal Physical Review Letters and reported in this week's New Scientist.
I have searched some more results of this process on the net, and whilst it is still in the realms of nano-technology, the chemistry is promising.
If research continues, there may
well be a spin off or two for the general populace. I’m already thinking of really efficient fridge / freezers for the 4 x 4 industry.
Oh, this’ll be waaaaay better than Roachies 12 volt toaster btw... lol...
Wolfie