Two-Dimensional Nucleation of Ice from Supercooled Water

We report the temperature dependent nucleation rates of ice from single water drops supporting aliphatic alcohol Langmuir films. Analysis in the context of a classical theory of heterogeneous nucleation suggests that the critical nucleus is essentially a monolayer, and that the rate-limiting steps in these nucleation processes are therefore not merely influenced by, but instead dictated by, the physics of the water-alcohol interface. Consequently, reduced dimensionality may be much more important in heterogeneous nucleation than has previously been believed.