Phase transitions in confined water nanofilms

Bulk water has three phases: solid, liquid and vapour. In addition to undergoing a phase transition (of the first order) between them, liquid and vapour can deform continuously into each other without crossing a transition line-in other words, there is no intrinsic distinction between the two phases...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature physics 2010-09, Vol.6 (9), p.685-689
Main Authors: Han, Sungho, Choi, M. Y, Kumar, Pradeep, Stanley, H. Eugene
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atomic
Classical and Continuum Physics
Complex Systems
Condensed Matter Physics
Critical point
Freezing
letter
Liquids
Mathematical and Computational Physics
Molecular
Nanocomposites
Nanomaterials
Nanostructure
Nanotechnology
Optical and Plasma Physics
Phase transformations
Phase transitions
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Simulation
Slits
Stopping
Theoretical
Vapour
Water
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Summary:Bulk water has three phases: solid, liquid and vapour. In addition to undergoing a phase transition (of the first order) between them, liquid and vapour can deform continuously into each other without crossing a transition line-in other words, there is no intrinsic distinction between the two phases. Hence, the first-order line of the liquid-vapour phase transition should terminate at a critical point. In contrast, the first-order transition line between solid and liquid is believed to persist indefinitely without terminating at a critical point. In recent years, however, it was reported that inside carbon nanotubes, freezing of water may occur continuously as well as discontinuously through a first-order phase transition. Here we present simulation results for water in a quasi-two-dimensional hydrophobic nanopore slit, which are consistent with the idea that water may freeze by means of both first-order and continuous phase transitions. Our results lead us to hypothesize the existence of a connection point at which first-order and continuous transition lines meet.
ISSN:1745-2473
1745-2481
DOI:10.1038/nphys1708