Japanese scientists say certain conditions can make water ice as fluffy as marshmallows.

Original title: Japanese scientists say certain conditions can make water ice look like marshmallows in general fluffy
Japanese scientists recently published a paper saying that under negative pressure and ultra-low temperature conditions, water ice may be like marshmallows, in a fluffy and light form of stable presence, such previously unknown "aerogel ice" is the lowest known density of ice.
, Okazoyama University of Science in Japan conducted molecular dynamics simulations of more than 300 possible crystal structures, studied their properties under negative pressure conditions, and proposed the idea of aerogel ice. They believe that aerogel ice is the most stable form of solid water in a negative pressure environment with temperatures close to absolute zero. The paper was published in the American Journal of Chemical Physics.
at different temperatures and pressures, water molecules in ice crystals can be arranged in different forms, and ordinary ice on Earth has a hexagonal crystal structure. Seveny-seven ice structures have been found in the lab, only two of which are less dense than normal ice. Aerogel ice, if prepared, will be the 18th form of ice, helping to understand the properties of water molecules under extreme conditions.
previous studies have suggested that stable ice could be formed if water molecules were arranged into "cage" structures like zeolite or gas hydrant crystals. Researchers at Okayayama University simulated 219 zeolite structures and 84 gas hydrate structures, and modified the zeolite structure to make it more loose, designing an aerogel ice structure.
in aerogel ice crystals, water molecules act like columns, supporting the vast space between the ceiling and the floor. Simulations show that when the density is about half that of liquid water, aerogel ice is more stable than ice in any zeolite structure, and further structural modifications can make density lower.