Ice-Structuring Mechanism for Zirconium Acetate

Abstract

The control of ice nucleation and growth is critical in many natural and engineering situations. However, very few compounds are able to interact directly with the surface of ice crystals. Ice-structuring proteins, found in certain fish, plants, and insects, bind to the surface of ice, thereby controlling their growth. We recently revealed the ice-structuring properties of zirconium acetate, which are similar to those of ice-structuring proteins. Because zirconium acetate is a salt and therefore different from proteins having ice-structuring properties, its ice-structuring mechanism remains unelucidated. Here we investigate this ice-structuring mechanism through the role of the concentration of zirconium acetate and the ice crystal growth velocity. We then explore other compounds presenting similar functional groups (acetate, hydroxyl, or carboxylic groups). On the basis of these results, we propose that zirconium acetate adopts a hydroxy-bridged polymer structure that can bind to the surface of the ice crystals through hydrogen bonding, thereby slowing down the ice crystal growth.

The effect of wall thickness distribution on mechanical reliability and strength in unidirectional porous ceramics

“…When samples were ice-templated faster (25C min), pore size became smaller (3.1 m), as shown in Figure 1C and Table 1. Pore morphology was modified by the addition of zirconium acetate to the initial slurry turning the lamellar pores to honeycomb-like structures (Figure 1E) [33]. Finally, we produced samples with different amounts of intralamellar porosity (i.e.…”

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

“…(Lu, Kessler, & Davis, 2006). 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).…”

Biomimetic Materials by Freeze Casting

“…Pekor et al 72,73 demonstrated that soluble polymers commonly used as plasticizers, such as polyethylene glycol and polyvinyl alcohol, have a significant effect on the degree of constitutional supercooling, which affects pore size and secondary dendrite spacing. Deville et al 77 Fig . 2.…”

“…2. Effect of different freezing vehicles (a-d), additives (e-i), and freezing conditions (j-l) on microstructure of different ceramic scaffolds: (a) hydroxyapatite in water, resulting in lamellar pores 41 ; (b) alumina in camphene, resulting in cellular pores 64 ; (c) alumina in camphor-naphthalene, resulting in dendritic channels 65 ; (d) lead zirconate titanate in tert-butyl alcohol, resulting in prismatic pores 66 ; (e) hydroxyapatite with 60 wt.% dioxane, resulting in cellular pores 43 ; (f) hydroxyapatite with 20 wt.% glycerol, resulting in dendritic pores 43 ; (g) titania with 9 wt.% isopropanol, resulting in elongated lamellar pores [unpublished work]; (h) Yttria-stabilized zirconia with 18 g/L zirconium acetate, resulting in faceted polyhedral pores 77 ; (i) hydroxyapatite with PMMA pore formers, resulting in large spherical (S) pores and small lamellar (L) pores 81 ; (j) hydroxyapatite with radial cooling, resulting in radially aligned pores (arrow indicates direction of temperature gradient) 49 ; (k) alumina with an electric field applied parallel to the freezing direction, resulting in dense/porous bi-layers (arrow indicates direction of electric field) 87 ; (l) titania with a magnetic field applied perpendicular to the freezing direction, resulting in pore alignment in multiple directions (arrow indicates direction of magnetic field; ice growth out of page). 88 used zirconium acetate, a salt with unique icestructuring properties, to limit the incorporation of water molecules into growing ice crystals, resulting in faceted polyhedral structures (Fig.…”