Ion-specific ice recrystallization provides a facile approach for the fabrication of porous materials.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 28462937.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms15154 and PMC identifier 5418576.
- No licence information is recorded for this record.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
Ice recrystallization is of great importance to both fundamental research and practical applications, however understanding and controlling ice recrystallization processes remains challenging. Here, we report the discovery of an ion-specific effect on ice recrystallization. By simply changing the initial type and concentration of ions in an aqueous solution, the size of ice grains after recrystallization can be tuned from 27.4±4.1 to 277.5±30.9 μm. Molecular dynamics simulations show that the ability of the ion to be incorporated into the ice phase plays a key role in the ultimate size of the ice grains after recrystallization. Moreover, by using recrystallized ice crystals as templates, 2D and 3D porous networks with tuneable pore sizes could be prepared from various materials, for example, NaBr, collagen, quantum dots, silver and polystyrene colloids. These porous materials are suitable for a wide range of applications, for example, in organic electronics, catalysis and bioengineering.