Control of ice growth and recrystallization by sulphur-doped oxidized quasi-carbon nitride quantum dots

Carbonaceous particles, as one of the main sources of atmospheric aerosols, have great influence on the climate change, such as ice formation, precipitation and polar ice melting. Because sulphur-containing emissions can significantly affect the chemical compositions and properties of carbonaceous particles through various aging processes, it is critical to investigate the influence of sulphur-doped carbon materials on ice formation. Here, we synthesized a sulphur-doped carbon nanomaterial-sulphur-doped oxidized quasi-carbon nitride quantum dots (S-OCNQDs), and investigated the influence of chemical structure on ice growth and recrystallization. The experimental results show that the S-OCNQDs can inhibit ice growth/recrystallization. In addition, we found that forming more hydrogen-bonds with ice contributes to enhancing the efficiency of ice growth/recrystallization inhibition and that heteroatom-doping is a promising way to regulate the ice growth/recrystallization. This work correlates the specific chemical structures of carbon nanomaterials with their performance in inhibiting ice growth/recrystallization through their density of hydrogen-bonds formed with ice. It is instructive for understanding the effect of sulphur-doping on ice formation as well as the design of efficient anti-icing materials.

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