Fig. 1: Heterogeneous ice nucleation and growth processes under low-temperature and low-pressure conditions. | Nature Communications

Fig. 1: Heterogeneous ice nucleation and growth processes under low-temperature and low-pressure conditions.

From: Molecularly resolved mapping of heterogeneous ice nucleation and crystallization pathways using in-situ cryo-TEM

Fig. 1

a–j Real-time TEM images of embryonic stages of ice deposition in top row (a–e) and the corresponding FFT of the image of nascent ice deposits in bottom row (f, j) showing amorphous ice deposition on the cryogenic graphene substrate first, followed by 〈001〉 crystallography direction-oriented hexagonal ice nucleation in the first few seconds. k–t In-situ TEM images and the corresponding FFT of the following nucleation process demonstrating that hexagonal ice (Ih1) increased in size followed by nucleation and growth of new nuclei (Ih3) while Ih2 gradually vanished, and two isolated 〈110〉-oriented cubic ice nuclei (Ic1 and Ic2) nucleated and grew to tens of nm in tens of seconds. u–ad Serial TEM images and the corresponding FFT of the crystal growth process, revealing that both cubic ice crystallites disappeared and hexagonal ice aggregated into a faceted crystallite with habit surface exposed. Scale bars: 5 nm in TEM images; 2 nm−1 (shared) in the FFTs. TEM images are consistently displayed in blue color.

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