Just out: Chemical and physical equilibria shape dual ice-nucleation pathways in an organic crystal
Communications Chemistry, Published online: 06 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s42004-026-02086-4Organic crystals influence ice formation in natural environments, but the underlying mechanisms remain underexplored. Here, the authors show that the freezing efficiency of phloroglucinol (PGL) stems from nucleation pathways involving its crystalline surface — which acts as an ice template — and dissolved molecules in solution that assemble into nanoscale aggregates capable of nucleating ice even below the solubility limit.
