Reversible structural transformations in supercooled liquid water from 135 to 245 K

Abstract

Supercooled water structures Water displays a number of anomalous properties that are further enhanced in its supercooled state, but experimental studies at ambient pressure must obtain data before the onset of rapid crystallization at temperatures below ∼240 kelvin. Kringle et al. obtained infrared spectra of supercooled water films at temperatures between 135 and 235 kelvin that formed for a few nanoseconds by ultrafast heating and cooling. Supercooled water thermally equilibrates before crystallization above 170 kelvin, and over the range of temperatures studied, the structure of water was shown to be a linear combination of a high-density and a low-density liquid. Science , this issue p. 1490