Oct 2026· Science Advances· Vol 12· 0 citations· 88 references
Medicine
Abstract
Mineral dusts are the most important type of ice-nucleating particles and play a key role in cloud formation and climate. Their activity is commonly assumed to scale with particle surface area, yet whether this assumption holds across particle sizes remains unverified. Here, we quantify size-dependent ice nucleation activity using compositionally pure, size-segregated kaolinite (KGa-1b). Ice nucleation active site (INAS) densities were determined for size classes from submicron to 48 μm, revealing two distinct ice-nucleation regimes. At low temperatures (∼240 K), INAS density per surface area is independent of particle size. In contrast, at warm temperatures (∼260 K), particles of 6 to 12 μm exhibit the highest INAS densities, up to two orders of magnitude greater than smaller particles and nonsize-selected bulk samples. Linking these results to particle morphology indicates that well-aligned, multilayered platelet edges provide the continuous hydroxylated surfaces required for efficient ice nucleation. Our findings demonstrate that morphology can modulate particle size–dependent ice nucleation, highlighting limitations of simple surface area–based parameterizations.
Atmospheric aerosol particles can act as ice nucleating particles (INPs) and influence cloud formation, precipitation, and radiative forcing. However, ice nucleation remains poorly understood because atmospheric aerosols exhibit complex chemical compositions and morphologies. In particular, how uniformly mixed and ph...
Rebecca A. Conner, Natalie L. Bacallao, Peyton E. Stiles et al.· Journal of Physical Chemistr...· 0 citations
Cloud properties affecting weather and climate, such as albedo or likelihood to precipitate, strongly depend on whether cloud droplets are liquid or frozen. Heterogeneous ice nucleation in the presence of ice nucleating particles (INP) predominates in ice cloud formation. An important example of INPs are K-feldspar min...
Franziska Sabath, Rasmus Väinö Erik Nilsson, Tobias Dickbreder et al.· Physical Chemistry, Chemical...· 0 citations
Formation of critical nuclei is the essential step of first-order phase transitions such as the crystallization of supercooled water. However, probing these nanometer-sized critical nuclei remains extremely challenging in both experiments and simulations because they form rarely and exist transiently. Here we introduce...
Chuan-Biao Zhang, Kai Wu, Yi-Qun Wang et al.· Journal of Chemical Theory a...· 0 citations
Surface properties play a critical role in determining the heterogeneous ice nucleation ability of a material, with important implications for atmospheric processes and climate models. However, understanding how these properties, such as surface chemistry, structure, and morphology, influence ice nucleation is experime...
Julia Canet, R. Gimeno-Muñoz, L. Rodríguez et al.· Physical Chemistry, Chemical...· 0 citations
Heterogeneous nucleation of bubbles on crystals in magma is thought to be an important driver of volcanic eruptions. Decompression experiments were carried out to elucidate the kinetics of H2O bubble nucleation on crystals of different sizes. Samples used were mixtures of hydrated rhyolitic melt and populations of augi...
Quinn Johnson, James E. Gardner, Wade L. Aubin et al.· Bulletin of Volcanology· 0 citations
