Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University
Gakushuin University Computer Center
出版者
宇宙航空研究開発機構宇宙科学研究本部
出版者(英)
Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA/ISAS)
雑誌名
宇宙利用シンポジウム 第21回 平成16年度
雑誌名(英)
Space Utilization Research: Proceedings of the Twenty-first Space Utilization Symposium
ページ
102 - 104
発行年
2005-03
抄録(英)
Ice crystal growth in supercooled water including certain proteins is inhibited by their adsorption at ice/water interface. While these proteins have dramatic consequence for natural biological processes and technological applications, only a little is known about the dynamic mechanism of ice growth inhibition. Recent experimental results are obviously different from the past understanding for the effect of AFGP (AntiFreeze GlycoProtein) molecules, in which the growth rates decrease by pinning the step motion at the adsorbed positions of molecules. The purpose of this research project is to clarify the growth kinetics of ice crystals growing in the supercooled water including the antifreeze protein molecules on the molecular level in conjunction with the theoretical considerations. The growth steps propagating on the interfaces between ice and water will be observed in-situ using the optical system of phase contrast microscopy, and the adsorbed protein molecules are directly using the fluorescent microscopy, which is combined with the phase contrast microscope. Combining both in-situ observations, the interaction between the growth steps and the adsorbed protein molecules will be analyzed. It is well known that not only the migration of growth step but also the macroscopic growth form are very sensitive to the convection flows in the liquid. Consequently, it is very important to conduct these experiments without any effect of convection flow. Based on these experimental results, a new model is developed to explain the growth promotion and inhibition mechanisms of the inorganic materials by the adsorption effects of macromolecules at the growing interface. This phenomenon that the growth of inorganic crystals is precisely controlled by the interfacial adsorption of the macromolecules such as the protein has been recently pushed to the forefront in the research field of crystal growth mechanisms. A new research prospect will be shown in this research project.