Supercooled liquid sodium chloride solution on ice and snow surfaces

Laboratory experiments are presented on the phase change at the surface of sodium chloride – water mixtures at temperatures between 259 K and 240 K. Chloride is a ubiquitous component of polar coastal surface snow. The chloride embedded in snow is involved in reactions that modify the chemical composition of snow as well as ultimately impact the budget of trace gases and the oxidative capacity of the overlying atmosphere.  Multiphase reactions at the snow – air interface have found particular interest in atmospheric science. Undoubtedly, chemical reactions proceed faster in liquids than in solids; but it is currently unclear when such phase changes occur at the interface of snow with air.

In the experiments reported here, a high selectivity to the upper few nanometres of the frozen solution – air interface is achieved by using electron yield near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy. We find that sodium chloride at the interface of frozen solutions, which mimic sea-salt deposits in snow, remain as supercooled liquid down to 240 K, which is about 10 K lower than the freezing temperature of sodium chloride solutions. Below this temperature, hydrohalite exclusively precipitates, anhydrous sodium chloride is not detected. In this work, we present the first NEXAFS spectrum of hydrohalite. The hydrohalite is found to be stable while increasing the temperature towards the eutectic temperature of 253 K.

 

Taken together, this study reveals no differences in the phase changes of sodium chloride at the interface as compared to the bulk. That sodium chloride remains liquid at the interface upon cooling down to 240 K, which spans the most common temperature range in Polar marine environments, has consequences for interfacial chemistry involving chlorine as well as for any other reactant for which the sodium chloride provides a liquid reservoir at the interface of environmental snow. Implications for the role of surface snow on atmospheric chemistry are discussed.