AN INSIGHT INTO THE ICE NUCLEATION PROCESS VIA DESIGN OF CRYSTALLINE ICE NUCLEATORS OF VARIABLE SIZE

Monolayers of the long-chain alcohols on water promote nucleation of i ce. In order to determine the minimum size of crystalline alcohol mono layer domains that induce ice nucleation, we reduced their size in two distinct ways. One approach encompassed embedding the pure hydrocarbo n alcohol, CnH2n+1OH (n = 20, 31), into a matrix of an immiscible mono layer of perfluoro alcohol C10F21C2H4OH, Which is inert as an ice nucl eator. The second set of experiments involved the introduction of rand om defects into the monolayer crystalline domains of C29H59OH through the use of the fully miscible guest alcohol molecule, C31H63OH, as add itive. By these methods we estimated that similar to 450 water molecul es are necessary to form a stable ice cluster at the onset of induced ice nucleation at a temperature just below 0 degrees C.