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Study Explains New Form of Crystalline Ice
Written by AZoMFeb 19 2021
Ice is an extremely multipurpose material. The oxygen atoms in ice cubes or snowflakes are arranged in a hexagonal pattern. An ice form like this is referred to as ice one (ice I).
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Strictly speaking, however, these are not actually perfect crystals, but disordered systems in which the water molecules are randomly oriented in different spatial directions.
Thomas Loerting, Institute of Physical Chemistry, University of Innsbruck, Austria
A total of 18 crystalline forms of ice, including ice I, were known to date, which vary in terms of the arrangement of their atoms. Polymorphs refer to different types of ice and they form based on specific temperature and pressure conditions.
Three years ago, chemists at the University of Innsbruck found evidence for the existence of a new variety of ice. Until then, 18 types of crystalline ice were known. The team led by Thomas Loerting now reports in Nature Communications on the elucidation of the crystal structure of ice XIX using neutron diffraction.
Three years ago, chemists at the University of Innsbruck found evidence for the existence of a new variety of ice. Until then, 18 types of crystalline.