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IPFS News Link • Science, Medicine and Technology

Carbon nanotubes make water freeze solid at boiling temperatures

• newatlas.com by Michael Irving

Normally, yes. But researchers at MIT have found that, when contained inside the tiny cavities of carbon nanotubes, water can actually freeze solid at temperatures well above its usual boiling point. This finding may have applications in creating proton-conducting "ice wires".

Temperature alone isn't the sole factor in determining when water shifts between a solid, liquid and gas. As demonstrated in a Cody's Lab video, pressure plays a big part as well, allowing water to effectively be boiled until it freezes by lowering the pressure.

Water has also been known to behave strangely when it's confined to spaces on the scale of nanometers: earlier this year scientists at Oak Ridge National Lab discovered water has a freaky fourth state of matter when it's put under extreme pressure in these tiny spaces.

1 Comments in Response to

Comment by PureTrust
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Once we learn how to really control this, we can build the walls of our buildings out of water.



PurePatriot