Direct Measurement of the Critical Cooling Rate for the Vitrification of Water
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arXiv
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| Autores principales: | , , , |
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| Formato: | Preprint |
| Publicado: |
2024
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| _version_ | 1866909235575521280 |
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| author | Mowry, Nathan J. Kruger, Constantin R. Drabbels, Marcel Lorenz, Ulrich J. |
| author_facet | Mowry, Nathan J. Kruger, Constantin R. Drabbels, Marcel Lorenz, Ulrich J. |
| contents | The vitrification of aqueous solutions through rapid cooling is a remarkable achievement that launched the field of cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and has enabled the cryopreservation of biological specimens. For judging the feasibility of a vitrification experiment, the critical cooling rate of pure water is a frequently cited reference quantity. However, an accurate determination has remained elusive, with estimates varying by several orders of magnitude. Here, we employ in situ and time-resolved electron microscopy to obtain a precise measurement. We use shaped microsecond laser pulses to briefly melt an amorphous ice sample before flash freezing it with a variable, well-defined cooling rate. This allows us to directly measure the critical cooling rate of pure water, which we determine to be $6.4\cdot10^{6}$ K/s. Our experimental approach also expands the toolkit of microsecond time-resolved cryo-EM, an emerging technique, in which a cryo sample is similarly flash melted and revitrified with a laser pulse. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2407_01087 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Direct Measurement of the Critical Cooling Rate for the Vitrification of Water Mowry, Nathan J. Kruger, Constantin R. Drabbels, Marcel Lorenz, Ulrich J. Chemical Physics The vitrification of aqueous solutions through rapid cooling is a remarkable achievement that launched the field of cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and has enabled the cryopreservation of biological specimens. For judging the feasibility of a vitrification experiment, the critical cooling rate of pure water is a frequently cited reference quantity. However, an accurate determination has remained elusive, with estimates varying by several orders of magnitude. Here, we employ in situ and time-resolved electron microscopy to obtain a precise measurement. We use shaped microsecond laser pulses to briefly melt an amorphous ice sample before flash freezing it with a variable, well-defined cooling rate. This allows us to directly measure the critical cooling rate of pure water, which we determine to be $6.4\cdot10^{6}$ K/s. Our experimental approach also expands the toolkit of microsecond time-resolved cryo-EM, an emerging technique, in which a cryo sample is similarly flash melted and revitrified with a laser pulse. |
| title | Direct Measurement of the Critical Cooling Rate for the Vitrification of Water |
| topic | Chemical Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.01087 |