Isothermal crystallization behavior of water in poly(vinyl methyl ether) aqueous solution investigated by infrared and two-dimensional infrared correlation spectroscopy

Isothermal crystallization behavior of water at −30 °C in PVME aqueous solution with the PVME concentration in the range of 40–60 wt% was investigated in detail by time-dependent infrared spectroscopy and two dimensional correlation analysis. The result suggests that when the PVME concentration is between 40 and 60%, the crystallization rate decreases with increasing PVME concentration, and the crystallization of water in low temperature is kinetically controlled. Of particular interest is that the so-called “unfrozen bound water” can be frozen slowly when PVME aqueous solution is annealed at a suitable low temperature. The crystallization mechanism of water in PVME/water system is elucidated by 2D correlation analysis.