Using revolutionary new techniques, a team led by Carnegie’s
Malcolm Guthrie has made a striking discovery about how ice behaves under
pressure, changing ideas that date back almost 50 years. Their findings could
alter our understanding of how the water molecule responds to conditions found
deep within planets and could have implications for energy science. Their work
is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
When water freezes into ice, its molecules are bound
together in a crystalline lattice held together by hydrogen bonds. Hydrogen
bonds are highly versatile and, as a result, crystalline ice reveals a striking
diversity of at least 16 different structures.