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By Jamie Durani2021-07-09T08:30:00 01:00

Elastic ice crystals that bend without breaking provide scientists with new insights into the basic properties of ice.

Flexible nano icicles can transmit light of different wavelengths like optical fibers

Ice is called a hard and brittle material. But researchers in China and the United States have now created flexible ice microfibers that can bend and deform without cracking. When the pressure is released, the fiber will quickly return to its original shape. This material undergoes an unusual phase change when bent, and can even transmit light as efficiently as the most advanced on-chip waveguides.

The research team led by Guo Xin and Tong Limin of Zhejiang University used electric field-enhanced growth methods to create ice crystals. The fiber is grown from the tip of a tungsten needle at –50°C. By applying voltage to the needle, the team accelerated the diffusion of gaseous water molecules to the tip of the needle, and grew fibers over 400 microns in length in just two seconds. These crystals have a hexagonal cross-section, generally only a few microns wide, but some are only a few hundred nanometers wide.

Optical microscope snapshot showing ice microfibers growing at the tip of a tungsten needle

The team tested the mechanical properties of the crystalline fiber under colder conditions and pointed out that the material may bend with strain "close to the theoretical elastic limit." As the fiber bends, the research team also observed an unusual and reversible phase transition as the material changes from a hexagonal crystal structure to a rhombohedral arrangement.

This material has no crystal defects, so it can effectively transmit visible light, which opens up the possibility of using it as a flexible waveguide. The team concluded that elastic crystals provide a new way to "explore ice physics and open up previously unexplored opportunities for ice-related technologies."

P Xu et al., Science, 2021, DOI: 10.1126/science.abh3754

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