Ice and its formation

Abstract

Ice formation is ubiquitous in nature, and plays a pivotal role in natural processes such as cloud formation and precipitation. Its occurrence in biological organisms is, however, usually problematic, and the main function of antifreeze proteins (AFPs) is to prevent freezing of organisms that inhabit at subzero temperatures. Understanding the physical processes that impact ice formation is, therefore, a prerequisite to elucidating how AFPs function in biological cells and organisms. The primary focus of this chapter is to provide a basic overview of ice and its formation. In particular, the structure of ice and its polymorphism, the thermodynamics and kinetics of ice formation from pure water and aqueous solutions, and the processes that result in the formation of amorphous glassy water will be discussed in detail.