CRYSTALLIZATION KINETICS OF WATER BELOW 150 K

Metastable liquid water, obtained by heating its hyperquenched glassy state above its glass --> liquid transition temperature, crystallizes to cubic ice. Kinetics of this crystallization has been studied by Fou rier transform infrared spectroscopy by determining the change in the spectra of stretching vibrations of the decoupled OD oscillator in 3.6 mole % HOD in H2O. The crystallization kinetics follows the equation x=[1-exp(-kt(n))] and is diffusion controlled. Annealing at a temperat ure below its glass-->liquid transition temperature alters this kineti cs as the grain-growth process begins to control the early stages of c rystallization.