Ice XIX: The second hydrogen-ordered polymorph related to ice VI

Abstract We here report ex situ calorimetry and high-resolution neutron powder diffraction data of a novel ice polymorph produced at 1.8 GPa and recovered to ambient pressure at 80 K. Ice XIX, previously called ice β-XV by us, is shown to be partially hydrogen-ordered and crystallising in a √2 x √2 × 1 supercell with respect to the parent ice VI phase. Our powder data match two nearly degenerate structural models in space-groups \(P\stackrel{-}{4}\) and Pcc2, in which the water molecules are partially antiferroelectrically ordered. Key to the synthesis of deuterated ice XIX is the use of DCl as dopant and the use of a D2O/H2O mixture, where the small H2O fraction nucleates ice XIX. This provides the basis to study the first order-order transition known in ice physics, from ice XIX to its sibling ice XV at ambient pressure. It proceeds via a transition state, ice VI‡, which contains a disordered H-sublattice, whereas both ice XIX and ice XV are fully crystalline.