Whether they're tickling your nose, hugging your eyelashes or melting on your tongue, few winter wonders are as fascinating as snowflakes.
The freezing-cold crystals are known for their one-of-a-kind appearances, which can be attributed to the multiple scientific processes that converge during their growth. Water molecules solidify and stick together in the glacial air. As they collect, they craft complex hexagonal formations often too small for the naked eye. No two snowflakes are ever quite the same because rapidly changing temperatures and humidities influence every tiny branch.
However, when it comes to microcrystals generated by complex forces, snowflakes are just the tip of the iceberg.
In a new study from NAU's Department of Applied Physics and Materials Science, a group of researchers discovered that similar things happened to their fabricated gold, copper and iron nanocrystals. When the metal particles clumped together during a lightning-fast chemical reaction, they formed pentagonal constructs that strongly resemble natural snowflakes, a phenomenon that holds incredible implications for the future of nanotechnology.
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