CONVERTING CO2 TO NANO-SCALE MgCO3 AS A POTENTIAL NOVEL GENERATION OF ICE NUCLEATING COMPOUND FOR CLOUD SEEDING & ARTIFICIAL RAIN HARVESTING

This contribution reports on a novel efficient material for potential cloud seeding technology and artificial rain harvesting. This latter consists of using MgCO3 sub-micron to nano-scaled particles instead of other seed materials including but not limited to AgI. The effectiveness of such a potential novel material for cloud seeding applications was based on standard epitaxial crystal growth considerations. As validated both theoretically & experimentally, the ice nucleation onto MgCO 3 particles seems to be effective & reproducible. Indeed, the lattice parameters of MgCO 3 in the x-y directions are close to that of Solid H 2 O (〈a MgCO3 〉 ~ 4.64 Å, 〈b MgCO3 〉 ~ 4.64 Å) yet double in z-direction (〈c MgCO3 〉 ~ 14.93 Å). Hence, the (x,y) lattice mismatch is relatively low within the 〈a〉 & 〈b〉 directions (~3%) comparable to that of AgI (~2%) seem in support of the observed effective ice nucleation. While such an ice nucleation is confirmed onto bio-engineered MgCO 3 submicron to nano-scaled particles, it is likely to be valid for any MgCO3 particles especially at the nano-scale. However, it is to be highlighted on the potential role of surface defects, heterogeneities on the growth mechanism too.