Single ice crystal growth with controlled orientation during directional freezing

TL;DR

This study provides in-situ observations of single ice crystal growth with controlled orientation, revealing new morphologies and quantitative insights into ice growth habits in polymeric solutions, aiding porous biomaterials design.

Contribution

It offers the first in-situ visualization of ice crystal morphologies with specific orientation control during directional freezing, enhancing understanding of ice growth behavior in polymer solutions.

Findings

Misty and V-shaped lamellar morphologies observed in-situ.

Quantitative data on lamellar spacing, tilt angle, and undercooling.

Insights into ice growth habits impacting biomaterials design.

Abstract

Ice growth has attracted great attention for its capability of fabricating hierarchically porous microstructure. However, the formation of tilted lamellar microstructure during freezing needs to be reconsidered due to the limited control of ice orientation with respect to thermal gradient during in-situ observations, which can greatly enrich our insight into architectural control of porous biomaterials. This paper provides an in-situ study of solid/liquid interface morphology evolution of directionally solidified single crystal ice with its C-axis (optical axis) perpendicular to directions of both thermal gradient and incident light in poly (vinyl alcohol, PVA) solutions. Misty morphology and V-shaped lamellar morphology were clearly observed in-situ for the first time. Quantitative characterizations on lamellar spacing, tilt angle and tip undercooling of lamellar ice platelets provide a clearer insight into the inherent ice growth habit in polymeric aqueous systems and are suggested exert significant impact on future design and optimization in porous biomaterials.