Ice nucleation under pressure and in salt solution

Abstract

Organic compounds which promote the nucleation of ice in supercooled water nucleate ice more effectively when the water is compressed or when it contains large amounts of dissolved salt. It is proposed that this behaviour is caused by the special thermodynamic properties of the monolayer of water in contact with the organic surface. Under high pressure or in the presence of dissolved salt the monolayer crystallizes at a temperature above the equilibrium freezing point of the bulk liquid phase, and having crystallized, the monolayer provides a better substrate for the nucleation of bulk ice than does the original organic surface.