Elastic ice microfibers.
Science
; 373(6551): 187-192, 2021 Jul 09.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34244408
ABSTRACT
Ice is known to be a rigid and brittle crystal that fractures when deformed. We demonstrate that ice grown as single-crystal ice microfibers (IMFs) with diameters ranging from 10 micrometers to less than 800 nanometers is highly elastic. Under cryotemperature, we could reversibly bend the IMFs up to a maximum strain of 10.9%, which approaches the theoretical elastic limit. We also observed a pressure-induced phase transition of ice from Ih to II on the compressive side of sharply bent IMFs. The high optical quality allows for low-loss optical waveguiding and whispering-gallery-mode resonance in our IMFs. The discovery of these flexible ice fibers opens opportunities for exploring ice physics and ice-related technology on micro- and nanometer scales.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Language:
En
Journal:
Science
Year:
2021
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
China