Ice Recrystallization Inhibition and Molecular Recognition of Ice Faces by Poly(vinyl alcohol)

Abstract

The effects of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) on the Ostwald ripening of polycrystalline ice samples are studied. At -6 degrees C, ice recrystallization in sucrose solutions is inhibited at PVA concentrations down to 0.005 mg mL(-1), with a recrystallization inhibition constant of 48.9 mL mg(-1). Ice growth-habit experiments reveal molecular recognition of the arrangement of water molecules in the ice by PVA molecules, and indicate that PVA molecules adsorb to the primary and secondary prism faces of hexagonal ice, Ih. Based on these observations, together with an analysis of the O-atom pattern in ice and the conformation of OH groups in PVA, an adsorption model is proposed. We suggest that PVA segments adsorb to the primary and secondary prism faces of ice parallel to the c axis with a linear misfit parameter of only 2.7 %, most likely via multiple hydrogen bonds. The proposed adsorption mechanism is discussed in the light of recent thermal hysteresis and scanning tunneling microscopy experiments.

Synthetic polymers enable non-vitreous cellular cryopreservation by reducing ice crystal growth during thawing

“…When higher molecular weight (31 kDa) PVA was used as a cryoprotectant significantly lower cell recovery (o10%) was observed postthawing. Budke and Koop observed that PVA (27 kDa) at 10 mg ml À 1 has notable ice-shaping activity, which agrees with this observation and our hypothesis that 31 kDa promotes DIS and that even 9 kDa PVA may have some ice-shaping effect 44 . Henceforth, the concentration and M W of PVA applied to cells is a balance between IRI and DIS.…”

Surface stiffening and enhanced photoluminescence of ion implanted cellulose – polyvinyl alcohol – silica composite

“…Deville et al carried out detailed analysis of influence of func-tional groups on ice crystallization and found that the formation of various structures depends on functional groups (carboxylates, acetates and surfactants) (Deville, Viazzi, & Guizard, 2012). The PVA is proved to inhibit the recrystallization and is a suitable polymer to preserve the food items at low temperature, which controls the ice nucleation (Budke and Koop, 2006;Pekor, Groth, & Nettleship, 2010). In general the cellulose scaffolds possess collapsed porous structure on freeze drying and addition of PVA modifies the mor-phology of the cellulose scaffolds due to the control of nucleation (Dash, Li, & Ragauskas, 2012).…”

Influence of Polymer Chain Architecture of Poly(vinyl alcohol) on the Inhibition of Ice Recrystallization

“…[ 5 ] On the other hand, Budke and Koop proposed the binding of PVA to the prism planes, since the conformation of the OH groups of an atactic PVA segment adsorbed on the primary and secondary prism planes of ice matches well with the ice lattice via multiple hydrogen bonds. [ 4 ] The spacing between neighboring C O bonds in PVA is S PVA = 2.52 Å, while the spacing between every O-atom in the unit cell of ice is S ice = 7.36 Å, which is ≈ 3 × S PVA = 7.56 Å.…”

“…[1][2][3] PVA has furthermore been found to adhere to ice-surfaces and inhibit the recrystallization processes of ice, which withholds great potential in the development of innovative cryopreservation and anti-icing technologies. [4][5][6][7] The effi cient cryopreservation of human red blood cells by addition of only 0.1 wt% PVA was recently reported, which attained a signifi cant increase in cell recovery. [ 8 ] Compared to biological antifreeze polymers such as antifreeze glycoproteins (AFGPs), PVA has the advantage that it is inexpensive and can be produced in large quantities.…”