Scientists Discover New Form of Ice Stable at Room Temperature
An international team of researchers has made a groundbreaking discovery in the field of condensed matter physics by creating a novel form of ice that remains solid at standard room temperatures.
This breakthrough opens new avenues for understanding water’s behavior under extreme conditions.
Led by Kin Wu Lee from Korea, scientists employed high-pressure techniques by squeezing water between two diamonds, reaching pressures up to 20,000 atmospheres.
Under such conditions, water molecules transform into a previously unknown crystalline phase called Ice XXI.
This phase is metastable, exhibiting unique structural characteristics that have not been documented before.
Using the European XFEL, the world’s most powerful X-ray laser, researchers tracked structural changes in real-time, observing the transformation every microsecond.
This discovery suggests that multiple high-temperature metastable ice phases may exist beyond earlier assumptions, which could significantly influence our understanding of icy moons and planetary bodies.
The formation of Ice XXI adds to the complexity of water’s phase diagram, which already includes crystalline and amorphous forms.
These findings could help explain how unusual ice structures form in the high-pressure environments of distant planets and moons in our solar system.
Moreover, recent observations of heavy water (D₂O) in protoplanetary disks around young stars, such as V883 Orionis, support the concept that water can endure the intense processes of star and planet formation.
This research paves the way for future studies into the properties of water under extreme space conditions and enhances our understanding of planetary sciences.