Effect of solutes on the heterogeneous nucleation temperature of supercooled water:an experimental determination

We investigate the effect of solute concentration on the heterogeneous ice nucleation temperature (Thet) of aqueous solutions of both NaCl and d-glucose. An automatic lag time apparatus (ALTA) technique allows the dependence of Thet on solute concentration to be determined with statistical significance. Our results point to the solute-induced lowering of Thet being a factor of two times the equivalent melting point depression at any fixed concentration, the same factor reported for homogeneous nucleation experiments with small molecular weight solutes. © 2009 the Owner Societies.