The report on square ice sandwiched between two graphene layers by Algara-Silleret et al. [Nature 519, 443 (2015)] has generated a large interest in this system. Applying high lateral pressure on nanoconfined water we found that monolayer ice is transformed to bilayer ice when the two graphene layers are separated by H=6, 7Å. It was also found that three layers of a denser phase of ice with smaller lattice constant is formed if we start from bilayer ice and apply a lateral pressure of about 0.7 GPa with H=8, 9Å. The lattice constant (2.5Å-2.6Å) in both transitions is found to be smaller than those typically for the known phases of ice and water, i.e. 2.8Å. We validate these results using ab-initio calculations and found good agreement between ab-initio O-O distance and those obtained from classical MD simulations. The reversibility of the mentioned transitions are confirmed by decompressing the systems.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.