'Ice-wires' at room temperature have potential for proton electronics

One of the few scientific facts that everybody knows is that water freezes at 0°C (32°F) and boils at 100°C (212°F). It slightly less well-known that these figures change depending on the pressure exerted on the water. Scientists have known for many years that confining water into small spaces can also change the phase-transition temperatures. But the team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology has now discovered that if the water is confined inside a cylindrical nanotube, these changes can be very large indeed.

According to research leader Michael Strano, the team expected to see distortions of phase behaviour when confining water inside a nano-cavity. However, they did not expect to see such a large effect; and also did not expect to see the melting point go up. In one experiment, the water was in a solid state at 105°C.

The team used nanotubes that were extremely narrow (a little above a nanometre in diameter) and open at both ends. One still-unanswered question is how the water got into the nanotubes in the first place: carbon nanotubes are hydrophobic.