Model explains why water can freeze at different temperatures

A new theoretical model has been created that shows how certain features on a surface affect the freezing point of water. This discovery could enable materials to be designed with surfaces that would make ice form more efficiently requiring less energy – something that could help make snowmaking and cloud seeding, for example, more efficient and cheaper.

Using molecular simulations, nucleation theory, mathematical modelling and thermodynamics, which they integrated with experimental results, the team from the University of Utah identified a mathematical expression showing that specific angles between surface features facilitate water molecules gathering and crystallising at relatively warmer temperatures. Their model demonstrates that the ice-nucleating ability of ice-binding surfaces not only depends on the chemistry of the surface but also its topographical characteristics.