| EPSRC Reference: |
EP/C003640/1 |
| Title: |
Experimental Study of Water and Ice in a Model Pore |
| Principal Investigator: |
Christenson, Professor H |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Department: |
Physics and Astronomy |
| Organisation: |
University of Leeds |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 October 2005 |
Ends: |
31 December 2008 |
Value (£): |
79,013
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Complex fluids & soft solids |
Condensed Matter Physics |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| No relevance to Underpinning Sectors |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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The phase behaviour of substances confined to narrow pores is usually drastically different from that of bulk matter. Due to the large area-to-volume ratio interfacial free energy terms compete with entropy terms to affect phase transitions like melting. For substances that wet (contact angle less than 90 degrees) the confining substrate the result is a reduction of the freezing and melting points. Melting- and freezing-point depression is responsible for phenomena such as frost heave, weathering of rocks and freezing damage in man-made construction materials. Liquid water at subzero temperatures can migrate in porous networks and large amounts of ice will then form in larger pores, where any depression is negligible. Using a surface force apparatus (SFA) functioning as a model system with a single pore of variable dimensions (1 - 1000 nm), the phase behaviour of confined water will be studied at temperatures close to and below 0 C. The optical interferometry technique employed in the SFA permits the phase state of water confined between mica (a water-wet clay mineral) surfaces to be determined. The factors influencing the phase behaviour are uniquely and quantitatively accessible because the experimental method allows the pore size to be continuously varied in the one experiment, and the absence of pore blockage effects means that true equilibrium is established.The competition between melting, freezing and evaporation will be monitored as a function of temperature, the relative areas of the interfaces with the mica substrate and the vapour, the vapour pressure and the presence of dissolved solute in the water. The results will aid in the understanding of water-ice-vapour equilibria in the more complex porous networks found in systems of technological and practical importance.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.leeds.ac.uk |