Electrocrystallization of Supercooled Water in Confinement

TL;DR

This study investigates how external electric fields influence the crystallization of supercooled water confined between graphene layers, revealing field-dependent effects on ice phase formation and crystallization rates.

Contribution

It demonstrates that electric field direction and magnitude significantly affect ice phase formation and crystallization dynamics in confined supercooled water.

Findings

Electric field perpendicular to graphene impedes ordering.

Lateral electric field promotes cubic ice ($Ic$) formation.

Crystallization rate depends strongly on electric field magnitude.

Abstract

The paper discusses the features of supercooled water thin film of width $d=3.97$~nm contained by the perfect graphene layers and crystallizing under external stationary electric field. It was found that the electric field applied perpendicular to graphene layers impedes structural ordering, while the electric field applied in lateral direction contributes to formation of the cubic ice ($Ic$) phase, which is thermodynamically less stable compared to the hexagonal ice ($Ih$) phase. It is shown that the growth of the $Ic$ crystalline phase occurs without formation of intermediate crystalline phases. It was found that the crystallization rate depends strongly on the magnitude of the applied electric field. In particular, the processes of full electrocrystallization of the system do not appear over simulation time scale ($\sim 40$~ns) if the electric field of the magnitude less than $0.07~\rm{V/\AA}$ is applied.