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Heterogeneous Ice Nucleation Induced by Electric Fields
- Source :
- The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. 2:2555-2559
- Publication Year :
- 2011
- Publisher :
- American Chemical Society (ACS), 2011.
-
Abstract
- Heterogeneous ice nucleation is an important phenomenon in the physical environment influencing atmospheric and biological processes. Despite this relevance, the mechanism of heterogeneous ice nucleation is not understood at the microscopic level, and what exactly constitutes a good ice nucleus is an open question. Employing molecular dynamics simulations, we demonstrate that an electric field, which acts very near a surface, can create an effective ice nucleus in models of supercooled liquid water. To serve as an ice nucleus, the field must polarize only a very thin water layer (∼10 A), and the field strength required is realistic on the relevant length scale. Our results support the idea that local electric fields could play a major role in heterogeneous ice nucleation, particularly for the very rough particles with many surface structure variations, that serve as ice nuclei in environmentally realistic situations.
- Subjects :
- Length scale
Field (physics)
Chemistry
Field strength
Atmospheric sciences
Molecular dynamics
Chemical physics
Electric field
Atmospheric chemistry
Ice nucleus
General Materials Science
Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
Supercooling
Physics::Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 19487185
- Volume :
- 2
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........66c97d212cf2fa0e03fd10054f1b24c5