Three-Dimensional Measurement of Ice Crystals in Frozen Dilute Solutions

Abstract

A Micro-Slicer Image Processing System (MSIPS) has been applied to observe the ice crystal structure formed in frozen dilute solutions three-dimensionally. Several parameters were also proposed to investigate three-dimensional (3-D) morphology and distribution of ice crystals quantitatively, based on reconstructed images obtained by multi-slicing of a frozen sample with the thickness of 5μm. The equivalent diameter of ice crystals were in the range of 85μm up to 169μm, and then decreased exponentially in increasing freezing rate at the freezing temperature of -20°C to -80°C. The 3-D morphology of ice crystal was found to be a bundle of continuous columns at any freezing temperature under the usual freezing conditions except supercooling.