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Gaseous "nanoprobes" for detecting gas-trapping environments in macroscopic films of vapor-deposited amorphous ice

Talewar, S; Halukeerthi, S; Riedlaicher, R; Shephard, J; Clout, A; Williams, G; Rosu-Finsen, A; ... Salzmann, C; + view all (2019) Gaseous "nanoprobes" for detecting gas-trapping environments in macroscopic films of vapor-deposited amorphous ice. The Journal of Chemical Physics , 151 (13) , Article 134505. 10.1063/1.5113505. Green open access

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Abstract

Vapor-deposited amorphous ice, traditionally called amorphous solid water (ASW), is one of the most abundant materials in the universe and a prototypical material for studying physical vapor-deposition processes. Its complex nature arises from a strong tendency to form porous structures combined with complicated glass transition, relaxation, and desorption behavior. To gain further insights into the various gas-trapping environments that exist in ASW and hence its morphology, films in the 25–100 μm thickness range were codeposited with small amounts of gaseous “nanoprobes” including argon, methane, helium, and carbon dioxide. Upon heating in the 95–185 K temperature range, three distinct desorption processes are observed which we attribute to the gas desorption out of open cracks above 100 K, from internal voids that collapse due to the glass transition at ∼125 K and finally from fully matrix-isolated gas induced by the irreversible crystallization to stacking disordered ice (ice Isd) at ∼155 K. Nanoscale films of ASW have only displayed the latter desorption process which means that the first two desorption processes arise from the macroscopic dimensions of our ASW films. Baffling the flow of water vapor toward the deposition plate greatly reduces the first desorption feature, and hence the formation of cracks, but it significantly increases the amount of matrix-isolated gas. The complex nature in which ASW can trap gaseous species is thought to be relevant for a range of cosmological processes.

Type: Article
Title: Gaseous "nanoprobes" for detecting gas-trapping environments in macroscopic films of vapor-deposited amorphous ice
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1063/1.5113505
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5113505
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Amorphous solids, Amorphous materials, Glass transitions, Physical vapor deposition, Surface and interface chemistry, Quartz crystal microbalance, Temperature programmed desorption
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > UCL School of Pharmacy
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > UCL School of Pharmacy > Pharmaceutics
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Chemistry
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10082405
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