Complete vitrification in pure liquid water and dilute aqueous solutions (original) (raw)
- Letter
- Published: 11 December 1980
Nature volume 288, pages 569–571 (1980)Cite this article
- 2553 Accesses
- 325 Citations
- Metrics details
Abstract
Pure water can only be vitrified by the very slow condensation of vapour on a metal surface maintained at very low temperatures1,2. Attempts to form vitreous ice by rapid cooling of liquid water invariably lead to formation of ice _I_h (ref. 3). (Pryde and Jones4 did report a heat capacity change of rapidly cooled water at 126 K which they attributed to a glass transition, but could not reproduce this result in subsequent experiments.) Dilute aqueous solutions in contrast to concentrated aqueous solutions5 behave similarity to water and separate during freezing, even with the highest cooling rates available, into pure ice and concentrated solute6. We report here that macroscopic parts of samples of pure liquid water and of dilute aqueous solutions can be vitrified completely by jet-freezing of micrometre-sized aqueous droplets distributed in n -heptane as an emulsion—the resulting supercooling effect of ∼40 K being essential for vitrification7.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Additional access options:
Similar content being viewed by others
References
- Burton, E. F. & Oliver, W. F. Proc. R. Soc. A153, 166 (1935).
ADS CAS Google Scholar - Venkatesh, C. G. & Rice, S. A. Science 186, 927–928 (1974).
Article ADS CAS Google Scholar - Fletcher, N. H. Rep. Progr. Phys. 34, 913–994 (1971).
Article ADS CAS Google Scholar - Pryde, J. A. & Jones, G. O. Nature 170, 685–688 (1952).
Article ADS CAS Google Scholar - Angell, C. A. & Sare, E. J. J. chem. Phys. 49, 4713–4714 (1968); 52, 1058–1068 (1970).
Article ADS CAS Google Scholar - Wolstenholme, G. E. W. & O'Conner, M. The Frozen Cell (Churchill, London 1970).
Google Scholar - Rasmussen, D. H. & MacKenzie, A. P. J. chem. Phys. 59, 5003–5013 (1973).
Article ADS CAS Google Scholar - McMillan, J. A. & Los, S. C. Nature 206, 806–807 (1965).
Article ADS CAS Google Scholar - Rasmussen, D. & Luyet, B. Biodynamica 10, 319–331 (1969).
Google Scholar - Luyet, B. & Rasmussen, D. Biodynamica 10, 167–191 (1968).
CAS PubMed Google Scholar - Dowell, L. G. & Rinfret, A. P. Nature 188, 1144–1148 (1960).
Article ADS CAS Google Scholar - Olander, D. S. & Rice, S. A. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 69, 98–100 (1972).
Article ADS CAS Google Scholar - Abragam, A. The Principles of Nuclear Magnetism, 126 (Clarendon, Oxford, 1973).
Google Scholar - Moor, H. & Mühlethaler, J. J. Cell Biol. 17, 609–628 (1963).
Article CAS Google Scholar - Bachmann, L. & Schmitt, W. W. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 68, 2149–2152 (1971); in Freeze Etching, (eds Benedetti, E. L. & Favard, P.) 73–79 (Soc. Franc. Microsc. Electron, Paris 1973).
Google Scholar - Jones, H. Rep. Progr. Phys. 36, 1425–1497 (1973).
Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
- Institut für Anorganische und Analytische Chemie, Universität Innsbruck, Innsbruck, A 6020, Austria
Peter Brüggeller & Erwin Mayer
Authors
- Peter Brüggeller
You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar - Erwin Mayer
You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Brüggeller, P., Mayer, E. Complete vitrification in pure liquid water and dilute aqueous solutions.Nature 288, 569–571 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/288569a0
- Received: 21 July 1980
- Accepted: 07 October 1980
- Issue Date: 11 December 1980
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/288569a0