Water is the source of life, has a pivotal position on the earth, 71% of the earth's area is seawater, the human body also accounts for 60%-70% of the water, under a standard atmospheric pressure, the melting point of water is 0 ° C, the boiling point is 100 ° C, more than 100 ° C water will be gasified.
We are already familiar with the properties of water, but scientists have discovered an anti-physical property of water, which can freeze at a temperature of 105 degrees Celsius, and this result has also caused many scholars to break their glasses.
When scientists immersed carbon nanotubes in containers containing water, they found that several water molecules could be drilled into the nanotubes, and when the carbon nanotubes were heated, the water molecules inside showed abnormal physical properties, and even froze to block the nanotubes! The scientific team used vibrational spectroscopy imaging technology to observe the internal movement of water molecules, and found that the structure of this "ice" is different from ordinary ice, and it is a special crystal structure formed between water molecules and carbon nanotubes, which we also call ice here.
And different diameter carbon nanotubes, the freezing temperature of water are different. The smaller the diameter of the nanotubes, the higher the temperature required for water molecules to turn into icicles.
When scientists put a single water molecule (about 0.4 nanometers in diameter) into a carbon nanotube with a diameter of only 1.05 nanometers, the water will freeze at 105 degrees, and when the diameter of the carbon nanotube becomes 2 nanometers, the water molecules will freeze at minus 83 degrees Celsius. Even if the diameter of carbon nanotubes is only 0.1 nanometers, the freezing temperature of water will be 20 degrees Celsius.
Perhaps we can draw analogies to the properties of particles in the macroscopic and microscopic worlds, just as Newton's classical mechanics in physics applies only to the macroscopic low-velocity state, and in the microscopic world it no longer applies, but to another set of physical systems. This miraculous property of water molecules also makes it difficult for scientists to explain.
In order to be applied in reality, Professor Alexander Kolesnikov and his team at Argonne National Laboratory in the United States used a strong pulsed neutron source to conduct experiments, and improved the structure of carbon nanotubes, so that water molecules will never freeze inside carbon nanotubes, even at absolute zero, minus 273.15 degrees Celsius will not freeze. No matter what kind of carbon nanotube structure, as long as it can be widely used in aircraft and aerospace materials, it is beneficial and harmless.
Aircraft flying in a high-altitude low temperature environment, often face the problem of icing, aircraft engines and fuselage shells if you can use carbon nanotubes made of materials, not only can reduce the weight of the fuselage, improve stability, but also can resist the low temperature environment, reduce losses.
Scientists want to control the freezing point of water molecules by controlling the structure and diameter of carbon nanotubes, the process of launching a manned rocket to return to Earth, must have experienced the high temperature of the shell, you can mix carbon nanotubes with a diameter of 1.05 nanometers in aerospace materials, and the temperature exceeds 105 degrees Celsius will freeze with a small amount of water molecules in the air, in order to reduce the high temperature of the offset shell and greatly increase safety.