Glass transition in hyperquenched water?

Abstract

Arising from: Y.-Z. Yue & C. A. Angell Nature 427, 717–720 (2004); Yue & Angell reply. It has been unclear whether amorphous glassy water heated to around 140–150 K remains glassy until it crystallizes or whether instead it turns into a supercooled and very viscous liquid. Yue and Angell1 compare the behaviour of glassy water under these conditions to that of hyperquenched inorganic glasses, and claim that water stays glassy as it heats up to its crystallization point; they also find a ‘hidden’ glass-to-liquid transition at about 169 K. Here we use differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) heating to show that hyperquenched water deposited at 140 K behaves as an ultraviscous liquid, the limiting structure of which depends on the cooling rate — as predicted by theoretical analysis of the liquid-to-glass transition2. Our findings are consistent with a glass-to-liquid transition-onset temperature (Tg) in the region of 136 K (refs 3,4), and they indicate that measurements of the liquid's properties may clarify the anomalous properties of supercooled water.