Fig. 2: DSC of PEO solutions and shear/temperature protocol used.

Representative DSC results and shear/temperature protocol used for flow-induced nucleation of the PEO aqueous solutions. a Dynamic DSC measurements of 50% w/w PEO aqueous solution (heating/cooling rate 10 °C min⁻¹), the dashed line indicates a temperature of 0 °C which was chosen as the shear temperature. b Isothermal DSC of 50% w/w PEO aqueous solution performed at different temperatures from 0 to −35 °C. c Measurements of the PEO hydrated shell composition (Fig. 1a); percentage values next to the plotted symbols show w/w compositions of corresponding PEO aqueous solutions; symbols with an attached arrow indicate that crystallisation was not observed as the sample was cooled after melting, and as such these data points are an estimate of the minimum amount of hysteresis present, the horizontal error bar for each point refers to the largest error of either lower (T_m) or upper (H₂O molecules per PEO repeat unit) axis; dotted line represents the approximate point where the hydration shell is complete, with points to the left having more than 1.6 water molecules per PEO repeat unit, and to the right less. d Shear/temperature protocol used in flow-induced nucleation of 50% w/w PEO aqueous solution. Error bars, were shown, indicate the uncertainty of the measurement. (see details in “Methods” section).