Related papers: Direct visualization of molecular stacking in quas…
I describe a new approach to the classification of snow crystal morphologies that focuses on the most common growth behaviors that appear in normal air under conditions of constant applied temperature and water-vapor supersaturation. The…
Using statistical field theory supplemented with molecular dynamics simulations, we consider premelting on the surface of ice as a generic consequence of broken hydrogen bonds at the boundary between the condensed and gaseous phases. A…
Using variable temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and dI/dz barrier height spectroscopy, the structure of water on h-BN/Rh(111) nanomesh has been investigated. Below its desorption temperature, two distinct phases of water…
We study the initial stages of homogeneous melting of a hexagonal ice crystal at coexistence and at moderate superheating. Our trajectory-based computer simulation approach provides a comprehensive picture of the events that lead to…
Ice-templating is a well-established processing route for porous ceramics. Because of the structure/properties relationships, it is essential to better understand and control the solidification microstructures. Ice-templating is based on…
We have investigated the formation of 10-50 mm long ``ice spikes'' that sometimes appear on the free surface of water when it solidifies. By freezing water under different conditions, we measured the probability of ice spike formation as a…
Understanding the structural tendencies of nanoconfined water is of great interest for nanoscience and biology, where nano/micro-sized objects may be separated by very few layers of water. Here we investigate the properties of ice confined…
The film thickness dependence of crystal growth is investigated for isotactic polystyrene (it-PS) in thin films, the thickness of which is from 20nm down to 4nm. The single crystals of it-PS grown at 180 in the ultrathin films show the…
Ionic liquid crystals (ILCs) are anisotropic mesogenic molecules which additionally carry charges. This combination gives rise to a complex interplay of the underlying (anisotropic) contributions to the pair interactions. It promises…
The formation of biomolecular condensates inside cells often involve intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs), and several of these IDPs are also capable of forming droplet-like dense assemblies on their own, through liquid-liquid phase…
We report the optical and structural properties of starch films formed on drying droplets of starch solutions on a flat substrate. The starch films formed after drying are circular in shape and have an azimuthally symmetric "M-shaped"…
Micrometre sized colloidal particles can be viewed as large atoms with tailorable size, shape and interactions. These building blocks can assemble into extremely rich structures and phases, in which the thermal motions of particles can be…
First shells of hydration and bulk solvent plays a crucial role in the folding of proteins. Here, the role of water in the dynamics of proteins has been investigated using a theoretical protein-solvent model and a statistical physics…
Here we report the results of microgravity experiments performed on the International Space Station (ISS) to study crystallized, metastable colloidal liquids in the region of the hard sphere phase diagram that has been found to be glassy on…
The influence of geometry on the local and global packing of particles is important to many fundamental and applied research themes such as the structure and stability of liquids, crystals and glasses. Here, we show by experiments and…
Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) presents valuable intrinsic properties and attracts considerable attention for the development of novel two-dimensional (2D) materials-based technologies. Even though huge efforts have been made to improve the…
Up to 90% of the chemical reactions during star formation occurs on ice surfaces, probably including the formation of complex organics. Only the most abundant ice species are however observed directly by infrared spectroscopy. This study…
The discovery of new low-dimensional transition metal chalcogenides is contributing to the already prosperous family of these materials. In this study, needle-shaped single crystals of a new quasi-one-dimensional material…
We investigate the dynamical evolution of a thermodynamically unstable crystal surface into a hill-and-valley structure. We demonstrate that, for quasi one-dimensional ordering, the equation of motion maps exactly to the modified…
We report bcc-like crystal structures in 2-4 ML Fe films grown on fcc Cu(100) using scanning tunneling microscopy. The local bcc structure provides a straightforward explanation for their frequently reported outstanding magnetic properties,…