Whale, TF orcid.org/0000-0002-1062-2685, Holden, MA orcid.org/0000-0003-3060-7615, Kulak, AN orcid.org/0000-0002-2798-9301 et al. (4 more authors) (2017) The role phase-separation and related topography in the exceptional ice-nucleating ability alkali feldspars. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 19 (46). pp. 31186-31193. ISSN 1463-9076
Abstract
Our understanding of crystal nucleation is a limiting factor in many fields, not least in the atmospheric sciences. It was recently found that feldspar, a component of airborne desert dust, plays a dominant role in triggering ice formation in clouds, but the origin of this effect was unclear. By investigating the structure/property relationships of a wide range of feldspars, we demonstrate that alkali feldspars with certain microtextures, related to phase separation into Na and K-rich regions, show exceptional ice-nucleating abilities in supercooled water. We found no correlation between ice-nucleating efficiency and the crystal structures or the chemical compositions of these active feldspars, which suggests that specific topographical features associated with these microtextures are key in the activity of these feldspars. That topography likely acts to promote ice nucleation, improves our understanding of ice formation in clouds, and may also enable the design and manufacture of bespoke nucleating materials for uses such as cloud seeding and cryopreservation.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. Material from this article can be used in other publications provided that the correct acknowledgement is given with the reproduced material. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics is © the Royal Society of Chemistry 2017. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Inst for Climate & Atmos Science (ICAS) (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Chemistry (Leeds) > Inorganic Chemistry (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Physics and Astronomy (Leeds) > Molecular & Nanoscale Physics |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EPSRC EP/N002423/1 EU - European Union GA 713664 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 10 Nov 2017 11:33 |
Last Modified: | 16 Dec 2024 13:37 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Royal Society of Chemistry |
Identification Number: | 10.1039/c7cp04898j |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:123681 |