A new investigation reveals that ice is a flexoelectric material, which means that it can produce electricity when irregularly deformed.
This study, co-lid by ICN2 and in the journal Nature Physics, may have technological implications important, while it can clarify Natural Phenomena like the lightning.
According to the frozen water is one of the most abundant substances on Earth. It is found in the glaciers, the peaks of the mountains and in the polar defaults. Although it is a well -known material, the study of its properties continues to produce fascinating results.
In this international study that involved the ICN2, at the UAB campus, Xi’an Jiaotong University and Stony Brook University, they first demonstrated that common ice is a Flexroelectric material. In other words, can generate electricity when subject to mechanical deformation.
This discovery may have significant implications for developing future technological devices and helping to explain natural phenomena such as storm lightning.
The study represents a significant advance in understanding the electromechanical properties of ice.
“We found that ice generates electric charge in response to mechanical tensions at all temperatures. In addition, we identified a thin layer ‘iron‘on the surface at temperatures below -113ºC ”, explains Xin Wenmember of the ICN2 oxide nanophysics group and one of the main researchers of the study.
“This means that the surface of the ice can develop natural electrical polarization, which can be reversed when an external electric field is applied – similar to the way a magnet poles can be reversed.”
“A railway From the surface it is an interesting discovery by itself, as it means that ice can have not only one way to generate electricity, but two: iron at very low temperatures and flexo -electrical at higher temperatures, up to 0ºC.
This property puts the ice aware of electromechanical materials such as titanium dioxide, which are currently used in advanced technologies such as sensors and condensers.
One of the most amazing aspects of this discovery is its connection to nature. The results of the study suggest that the flexoletricity of ice could play a role in the electrification of the clouds during thunderstorms and, therefore, in the origin of lightning.
Lightning is known to form when an electrical potential accumulates in the clouds due to collisions between electrically charged ice particles. This potential is then released in the form of lightning.
However, the mechanism through which the ice particles become electrically charged has remained uninfit, since the Ice is not piezoelectric – It cannot generate load simply because it is compressed during a collision.
However, the study shows that the ice can be charged electrically when subject to non -homogeneous deformations, ie when folding or deforming irregularly.
“During our investigation, the electric potential generated by the flexion of an ice plate was measured. Specifically, the block was placed between two metal plates and attached to a measurement device. The results coincide with those previously observed in thunderous ice particle collisions,” he explains, “explains,” Gustau Catalán ICREA, leader of the ICN2 oxide group of oxides.
Thus, the results suggest that flexoelectricity can be a possible explanation for the generation of the electric potential that leads to lightning during storms.
Group researchers are already exploring new research lines to explore these ice properties for real -world applications.
This discovery may pave the way to develop new electronic devices that use ice as an active material, which can be manufactured directly in cold environments.
Teresa Oliveira Campos, Zap //
