Volta effect and liquidlike layer at the ice surface

Abstract

The Volta potential difference between Ih ice single crystals and different metals has been measured as a function of the temperature by using the vibrating electrode technique. Reproducible results have been obtained with ice–gold and ice–copper contacts, indicating that in these cases the equilibrium has been attained. At temperatures below −30 °C the dependence is linear, and we think that this is the effect of the impurity content on the ice Fermi level. At higher temperatures a term which is logarithmic in (Tm−T), where Tm is the melting temperature of ice, is added. This additional pd has proved to be localized at the ice surface and ranges from 0 to 150 mV; it can be directly related to the appearance and thickening of the polarized, liquidlike layer predicted by N. H. Fletcher, if we assume that a constant electric field exists in the layer interior. The preferred dipole orientation turns out to be that with the oxygens outwards. We also obtained the approximate value of 4.3 eV for the ice work function.

Charge Separation by Collision of Ice Particles on Metals: Electronic Surface States

“…The scatter, especially of earlier values, may be due to uncontrolled surface conditions, which are not known in our case either. So the estimate for WE is about 4.4 eV, a value which is close to that reported earlier (Buser and Aufdermaur, 1971 ) and confirmed recently (Mazzega and others, 1976) .…”

Ice structures, patterns, and processes: A view across the icefields

“…The boundary layers between the solid clusters of ice and brine consists of flexible, less than 1 µm thick, membranes (Engemann et al, 2004), which exist above temperatures of 200 K (Wei et al, 2001) and are stable for several minutes even after the ice has completely melted. Potential differences of up to 50 mV and local gradients of pH from 6 to 8 have been observed (Bronshteyn and Chernov, 1991;Mazzega et al, 1976). The strong ultraviolet light that irradiated the young Earth (Zahnle and Walker, 1982) will have influenced the upper layer of sea ice to a depth of about 10 cm.…”

Product Formulation

“…Others have reported the presence of a liquid like layer at even lower temperatures, e.g., -35°C [42]. Others have reported the presence of a liquid like layer at even lower temperatures, e.g., -35°C [42].…”