Just before Christmas, atomic-scale researchers from Australia and New Zealand produced little metallic snowflakes.
Because nanomaterials are causing a revolution in engineering and technology by getting individual atoms to work together. Additionally, making snowflakes is fun.
Nanoscale structures can make it easier to manufacture electrical components, make materials stronger but lighter, or help clean up the environment by binding to contaminants.
Researchers uploaded their study to the journal Science.
Researchers Create Metallic Snow
Researchers from the University of New South Wales, the University of Auckland, and the Victoria University of Wellington created tiny zinc snowflakes out of liquid gallium instead of delicate water crystals.
Physicist Nicola Gaston and associates developed zinc nanostructures with symmetric, hexagonal crystal frameworks in pools of molten gallium. According to Gaston of the University of Auckland in New Zealand's MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, such metal snowflakes might be beneficial for building electronics and stimulating chemical processes.
"Self-assembly is the way nature makes nanostructures," Gaston said per Science News. "We're trying to learn to do the same things."
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How Zinc Formed
According to C&EN, the researchers heated Ga and Zn together, then added 10% by weight of Zn. They then allowed the alloy to cool. The group also demonstrated that the method works for crystallizing other metals, including copper, platinum, and tin.
After adding zinc to the gallium, the scientists exposed the alloy to high temperatures and various pressures before allowing it to cool to room temperature. The scientists discovered that the zinc was crystallizing into symmetrical, hexagonal patterns that resembled natural snowflakes and other forms due to the free ordering of gallium atoms. Gaston compares it to the way a fruit platter lends order to the fruits it holds.
The structural variety of the resulting crystals, shown in these scanning electron micrographs, comes from different cooling temperatures and times, said Gaston.
How Does a Regular Snow Form?
According to the Met Office, small ice crystals in clouds become snowflakes when they join with one another. Crystals will ultimately become so tightly packed and heavy that they will fall to the ground.
Snowflakes that fall through moist air that is a little warmer than 0 °C will melt at their edges and combine together to produce huge flakes. Snowflakes fall as a result of cold, dry air, resulting in fluffy snow that does not stick together.
Snow is produced when the temperature is cold and there is moisture in the atmosphere in the form of small ice crystals.
Rain turns to snow when the air temperature falls below 2 °C. It is false to say that snow requires temperatures below zero. In actuality, this country frequently has its heaviest snowfalls between 0 and 2 °C. The snow does begin to melt when the temperature rises above freezing, but as it does, the air around the snowflake becomes colder.
Light, moderate, and heavy snowfall are the three categories. When a snowfall is accompanied by strong winds, it can cause blizzards and drifts.
If the temperature rises over 2 °C, the snowflake will melt and transform into sleet, and if the temperature rises much higher, it will turn into rain.
Check out more news and information on Snow in Science Times.
