Correlation between 2D Square Ice and 3D Bulk Ice by Critical Crystallization Pressure

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Zeng, Zhen, Sun, Kai, Chen, Rui, Suo, Mengshan, Che, Zhizhao, Wang, Tianyou
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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_version_ 1866911416036884480
author Zeng, Zhen
Sun, Kai
Chen, Rui
Suo, Mengshan
Che, Zhizhao
Wang, Tianyou
author_facet Zeng, Zhen
Sun, Kai
Chen, Rui
Suo, Mengshan
Che, Zhizhao
Wang, Tianyou
contents Low-dimensional ice trapped in nanocapillaries is a fascinating phenomenon and is ubiquitous in our daily lives. As a decisive factor of the confinement effect, the size of nanocapillary significantly affects the critical crystallization pressure and crystalline structure, especially for multi-layered ices. By choosing square ice as a typical two-dimensional (2D) multi-layered ice pattern and using all-atom molecular dynamics simulations, we further unveil the variation mechanism of critical crystallization pressure with the nanocapillary size. The results show a strong dependence of the critical crystallization pressure on the size of the graphene sheet for monolayer, bilayer, and trilayer square ice. The quasi-macroscopic crystallization pressure, the actual pressure of water molecules, and the freezable region between them are all strongly dependent on the nanocapillary width. As the size of the capillary becomes larger in all three directions, the critical crystallization pressure converges to the true macroscopic crystallization pressure, which is very close to the value of the crystallization pressure for bulk ice. A direct correlation is established between 2D square ice and three-dimensional (3D) bulk ice by the critical crystallization pressure. There is an unfreezable threshold for crystallizing spontaneously in practice when the quasi-macroscopic crystallization pressure is equal to the actual pressure, which can explain the limit of nanocapillary width for multi-layered ice.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_01520
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Correlation between 2D Square Ice and 3D Bulk Ice by Critical Crystallization Pressure
Zeng, Zhen
Sun, Kai
Chen, Rui
Suo, Mengshan
Che, Zhizhao
Wang, Tianyou
Chemical Physics
Low-dimensional ice trapped in nanocapillaries is a fascinating phenomenon and is ubiquitous in our daily lives. As a decisive factor of the confinement effect, the size of nanocapillary significantly affects the critical crystallization pressure and crystalline structure, especially for multi-layered ices. By choosing square ice as a typical two-dimensional (2D) multi-layered ice pattern and using all-atom molecular dynamics simulations, we further unveil the variation mechanism of critical crystallization pressure with the nanocapillary size. The results show a strong dependence of the critical crystallization pressure on the size of the graphene sheet for monolayer, bilayer, and trilayer square ice. The quasi-macroscopic crystallization pressure, the actual pressure of water molecules, and the freezable region between them are all strongly dependent on the nanocapillary width. As the size of the capillary becomes larger in all three directions, the critical crystallization pressure converges to the true macroscopic crystallization pressure, which is very close to the value of the crystallization pressure for bulk ice. A direct correlation is established between 2D square ice and three-dimensional (3D) bulk ice by the critical crystallization pressure. There is an unfreezable threshold for crystallizing spontaneously in practice when the quasi-macroscopic crystallization pressure is equal to the actual pressure, which can explain the limit of nanocapillary width for multi-layered ice.
title Correlation between 2D Square Ice and 3D Bulk Ice by Critical Crystallization Pressure
topic Chemical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.01520