Mark Peplow reports that the ice unusually has square structure suggesting why water can zip through stacks of the atom-thick sheets of carbon In square ice, which has been seen between graphene sheets, water molecules lock flat in a right-angled formation. The structure is strikingly different from familiar hexagonal ice. By flattening a droplet of water between two sheets of graphene, researchers have created a new form of ice. Just a few molecules thick, its atoms are locked in a square grid pattern.
The discovery of square ice highlights another remarkable property of graphene, which consists of flat, atom-thick sheets of carbon. Not only are graphene sheets remarkably stiff, strong and conductive, but they can also exert immense pressure on molecules trapped between them. This could explain why water seeps through stacks of graphene very quickly, a property that suggests the material could be used in desalination membranes to purify water.
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