Phase Transitions in Emulsified HNO3/H2O and HNO3/H2SO4/H2O Solutions

Hydration of Hofmeister ions

Water dissolves salt into ions and then hydrates the ions to form an aqueous solution. Hydration of ions deforms the hydrogen bonding network and triggers the solution with what the pure water never shows such as conductivity, molecular diffusivity, thermal stability, surface stress, solubility, and viscosity, having enormous impact to many branches in biochemistry, chemistry, physics, and energy and environmental industry sectors. However, regulations for the solute-solute-solvent interactions are still open for exploration. From the perspective of the screened ionic polarization and O:H-O bond relaxation, this treatise features the recent progress and a perspective in understanding the hydration dynamics of Hofmeister ions in the typical YI, NaX, ZX₂, and NaT salt solutions (Y = Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs; X = F, Cl, Br, I; Z = Mg, Ca, Ba, Sr; T = ClO₄, NO₃, HSO₄, SCN). Phonon spectrometric analysis turned out the f(C) number fraction of bonds transition from the mode of deionized water to the hydrating. The linear f(C) ∝ C form features the invariant hydration volume of small cations that are fully-screened by their hydration H₂O dipoles. The nonlinear f(C) ∝ 1 - exp.(-C/C₀) form describes that the number insufficiency of the ordered hydrating H₂O dipoles partially screens the anions. Molecular anions show stronger yet shorter electric field of dipoles. The screened ionic polarization, inter-solute interaction, and O:H-O bond transition unify the solution conductivity, surface stress, viscosity, and critical energies for phase transition.

Freezing and glass transitions upon cooling and warming and ice/freeze-concentration-solution morphology of emulsified aqueous citric acid

Although freeze-induced phase separation and the ice/FCS (freeze-concentration solution) morphology of aqueous solutions play an important role in fields ranging from life sciences and biotechnology to geophysics and high-altitude ice clouds, their understanding is far from complete. Herein, using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and optical cryo-microscope (OC-M), we have studied the freezing and glass transition behavior and the ice/FCS morphology of emulsified 10-60wt% CA (citric acid) solutions in the temperature region of ∼308and153K. We have obtained a lot of new result which are understandable and unclear. The most essential understandable results are as follows: (i) similar to bulk CA/H₂O, emulsified CA/H₂O also freezes upon cooling and warming and (ii) the ice/FCS morphology of frozen drops smaller than ∼3-4μm is less ramified than that of frozen bulk solutions. Unclear results, among others, are as follows: (i) in contrast to bulk solutions, which produce one freezing event, emulsified CA/H₂O produces two freezing events and (ii) in emulsions, drop concentration is not uniform. Our results demonstrate that DSC thermograms and OC-M images/movies are mutually supplementary and allow us to extract important information which cannot be gained when DSC and OC-M techniques are used alone.

Facet shapes and thermo-stabilities of H₂SO₄•HNO₃ hydrates involved in polar stratospheric clouds

The nucleation, ice crystal shapes and thermodynamic stability of polar stratospheric clouds particles are interesting concerns owing to their implication in the ozone layer destruction. Some of these particles are formed by conformers of H2O, HNO3, and H2SO4. We carried out calculations using density functional theory (DFT) to obtain optimized structures. Several stable trimers are achieved -divided in two groups, one with HNO3 moiety, second with H2SO4 moiety- after pre-optimization at B3LYP/6-31G and subsequently optimization at B3LYP/aug-cc-pVTZ level of theory. For both most stable conformers five H2O molecules are added to their optimized trimers to calculate hydrated geometries. The OH stretching harmonic frequencies are provided for all aggregates. The zero-point energy correction (ZEPC), relative electronic energies (∆E), relative reaction Gibbs free energies ∆(∆G)k-relative, and cooling constant (K cooling ) are reported at three temperatures: 188 K, 195 K, and 210 K. Shapes given in our calculations are compared with various experimental shapes as well as comparisons with their thermo-stabilities.

Different freezing behavior of millimeter- and micrometer-scaled (NH₄)₂SO₄/H₂O droplets

Although the freezing of aqueous solutions is important for nature and different branches of science and freeze-applications, our understanding of the freezing process is not complete. For example, numerous measurements of micrometer-scaled (NH(4))(2)SO(4)/H(2)O droplets report one freezing event below the eutectic point. However, measurements of larger millimeter-scaled droplets reveal two freezing events: the freezing out of ice and subsequent freezing of a residual freeze-concentrated solution. To resolve this apparent contradiction we performed numerous calorimetric measurements which indicate that the freezing of a residual solution of millimeter-scaled 5-38 wt% (NH(4))(2)SO(4) droplets occurs mainly between ∼ 210 and 225 K. We also find that micrometer-scaled droplets produce one freezing event which is within or in the vicinity of the ∼ 210-225 K region. This fact and the analysis of thermograms suggest that the residual solution of micrometer-scaled droplets may partly crystallize simultaneously with ice and partly transform to glass at T(g)≈172 K. Our results suggest for the first time that the size of (NH(4))(2)SO(4)/H(2)O droplets may affect the number of freezing events below the eutectic point.

Why does large relative humidity with respect to ice persist in cirrus ice clouds?

According to observations, a large relative humidity with respect to ice, RH(i) >> 100%, often persists outside and inside upper tropospheric cirrus ice clouds. The persistence of the large in-cloud RH(i) means that H(2)O is slowly deposited onto cloud ice crystals. This unusual physical situation is similar to one in which a released body would slowly fall owing to gravitation. Here we present a physical mechanism which can be responsible for the persistence of large in-cloud RH(i). We find that clear-sky RH(i) up to 176% can be built up prior to the formation of ice cirrus by the homogeneous freezing of aqueous droplets containing H(2)SO(4) and HNO(3). As the droplets are cooled, a phase separation, which occurs during freezing, leads to the formation of a residual solution coating around the ice crystals formed. The coating can serve as a shield, slowing the rate of ice growth by approximately 10(3) in comparison with uncoated ice, and this can be a reason for the persistence of the large in-cloud RH(i).

Homogeneous Ice Nucleation in Water and Aqueous Solutions

This review provides an introduction to ice nucleation processes in supercooled water and aqueous solutions. Concepts for experimental techniques suitable to study homogeneous ice nucleation are addressed, in particular differential scanning calorimetry of inverse emulsions. Ice nucleation data from aqueous solutions have been analyzed using two approaches, and the interrelations between those are examined. It is argued that the ice nucleation process is driven entirely by thermodynamic quantities and how this can be understood in the context of three proposed theories for supercooled liquid water. Ice nucleation data for pure water droplets surrounded by a gas have been compiled and evaluated; within experimental uncertainty neither a volume dependent nucleation process nor a surface dependent nucleation process is convincingly supported by the analysis. Finally, open questions in the area of supercooled aqueous solutions and ice nucleation are discussed.

Homogeneous Freezing of Water Starts in the Subsurface

Molecular dynamics simulations of homogeneous ice nucleation in extended aqueous slabs show that freezing preferentially starts in the subsurface. The top surface layer remains disordered during the freezing process. The subsurface accommodates better than the bulk the increase of volume connected with freezing. It also experiences strong electric fields caused by oriented surface water molecules, which can enhance ice nucleation. Our computational results shed new light on the experimental controversy concerning the bulk vs surface origin of homogeneous ice nucleation in water droplets. This has important atmospheric implications for the microphysics of formation of high altitude clouds.

Reversible Formation of Glassy Water in Slowly Cooling Diluted Drops

This letter presents experimental results obtained with a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), which indicate that glassy water can be produced reversibly within slowly cooling diluted H2SO4/H2O drops.

The formation of cubic ice under conditions relevant to Earth's atmosphere

An important mechanism for ice cloud formation in the Earth's atmosphere is homogeneous nucleation of ice in aqueous droplets, and this process is generally assumed to produce hexagonal ice. However, there are some reports that the metastable crystalline phase of ice, cubic ice, may form in the Earth's atmosphere. Here we present laboratory experiments demonstrating that cubic ice forms when micrometre-sized droplets of pure water and aqueous solutions freeze homogeneously at cooling rates approaching those found in the atmosphere. We find that the formation of cubic ice is dominant when droplets freeze at temperatures below 190 K, which is in the temperature range relevant for polar stratospheric clouds and clouds in the tropical tropopause region. These results, together with heat transfer calculations, suggest that cubic ice will form in the Earth's atmosphere. If there were a significant fraction of cubic ice in some cold clouds this could increase their water vapour pressure, and modify their microphysics and ice particle size distributions. Under specific conditions this may lead to enhanced dehydration of the tropopause region.

Surface crystallization of supercooled water in clouds

The process by which liquid cloud droplets homogeneously crystallize into ice is still not well understood. The ice nucleation process based on the standard and classical theory of homogeneous freezing initiates within the interior volume of a cloud droplet. Current experimental data on homogeneous freezing rates of ice in droplets of supercooled water, both in air and emulsion oil samples, show considerable scatter. For example, at -33 degrees C, the reported volume-based freezing rates of ice in supercooled water vary by as many as 5 orders of magnitude, which is well outside the range of measurement uncertainties. Here, we show that the process of ice nucleus formation at the air (or oil)-liquid water interface may help to explain why experimental results on ice nucleation rates yield different results in different ambient phases. Our results also suggest that surface crystallization of ice in cloud droplets can explain why low amounts of supercooled water have been observed in the atmosphere near -40 degrees C.

Water activity as the determinant for homogeneous ice nucleation in aqueous solutions

The unique properties of water in the supercooled (metastable) state are not fully understood. In particular, the effects of solutes and mechanical pressure on the kinetics of the liquid-to-solid phase transition of supercooled water and aqueous solutions to ice have remained unresolved. Here we show from experimental data that the homogeneous nucleation of ice from supercooled aqueous solutions is independent of the nature of the solute, but depends only on the water activity of the solution--that is, the ratio between the water vapour pressures of the solution and of pure water under the same conditions. In addition, we show that the presence of solutes and the application of pressure have a very similar effect on ice nucleation. We present a thermodynamic theory for homogeneous ice nucleation, which expresses the nucleation rate coefficient as a function of water activity and pressure. Recent observations from clouds containing ice are in good agreement with our theory and our results should help to overcome one of the main weaknesses of numerical models of the atmosphere, the formulation of cloud processes.

Quantifying denitrification and its effect on ozone recovery

Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite observations indicate that extensive denitrification without significant dehydration currently occurs only in the Antarctic during mid to late June. The fact that denitrification occurs in a relatively warm month in the Antarctic raises concern about the likelihood of its occurrence and associated effects on ozone recovery in a colder and possibly more humid future Arctic lower stratosphere. Polar stratospheric cloud lifetimes required for Arctic denitrification to occur in the future are presented and contrasted against the current Antarctic cloud lifetimes. Model calculations show that widespread severe denitrification could enhance future Arctic ozone loss by up to 30%.