Posted on 11/29/2016 10:44:51 PM PST by BenLurkin
MIT has found a completely unexpected set of changes: Inside the tiniest of spaces — in carbon nanotubes whose inner dimensions are not much bigger than a few water molecules — water can freeze solid even at high temperatures that would normally set it boiling.
...
“If you confine a fluid to a nanocavity, you can actually distort its phase behavior,” Strano says, referring to how and when the substance changes between solid, liquid, and gas phases. Such effects were expected, but the enormous magnitude of the change, and its direction (raising rather than lowering the freezing point), were a complete surprise: In one of the team’s tests, the water solidified at a temperature of 105 C or more. (The exact temperature is hard to determine, but 105 C was considered the minimum value in this test; the actual temperature could have been as high as 151 C.)
“The effect is much greater than anyone had anticipated,” Strano says.
It turns out that the way water’s behavior changes inside the tiny carbon nanotubes — structures the shape of a soda straw, made entirely of carbon atoms but only a few nanometers in diameter — depends crucially on the exact diameter of the tubes. “These are really the smallest pipes you could think of,” Strano says. In the experiments, the nanotubes were left open at both ends, with reservoirs of water at each opening.
Even the difference between nanotubes 1.05 nanometers and 1.06 nanometers across made a difference of tens of degrees in the apparent freezing point, the researchers found. Such extreme differences were completely unexpected. “All bets are off when you get really small,” Strano says. “It’s really an unexplored space.”
(Excerpt) Read more at news.mit.edu ...
That makes sense. It’s one water molecule, and it can’t move anywhere, even if it wanted to, so its state is always frozen.
Ice-nine.
Well, a few water molecules. But they can’t move around, so they freeze.
I wonder if there are any practical uses of this phenomenon?
Could this be one of the keys to workable superconductors and perhaps even cold fusion?
I should have read further before I asked for “what practical use for this phenomenon”:
“it should be possible to make “ice wires” that would be among the best carriers known for protons, because water conducts protons at least 10 times more readily than typical conductive materials. “This gives us very stable water wires, at room temperature.” Proton conductors are a component in fuel cells.
No doubt something to do with discovering alien life or global warming.
I posted the answer for my question in post #8.
I didn’t read the article - but that’s what I was thinking - some way to conduct energy. I wonder if it could act as a “stiffening” agent. I have no idea how stiff the carbon nanotubes are - but could see a roll of fabric of it rolled off a truck, fill it with water somehow, and now you have a hard surface (like a runway???) I wonder if because each individual ice particle is so small it wouldn’t break like regular ice?
it’s possible you could make an extremely shock resistant material this way.
First thing I think of is engineered phase-change materials. It takes a LOT of heat to get a liquid to vaporiize from the liquid state. Think of drywall that maintains a nice, even 72 degrees throughout the day.
Woman and minorities hardest hit.
Let's get Small!
Jerry Reed had this figured out YEARS ago and wrote a song about it...
When You’re Hot, You’re Hot
When You’re Not, You’re Not
Carbon nanotubes could be made in a paint-able coating that would revolutionize energy applications.
You get enough of these tubs with frozen water in them, and you can cool your drink and it will never melt.
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