Experimental observation of liquid-solid transition of nanoconfined water at ambient temperature

Wentian Zheng; Shichen Zhang; Jian Jiang; Yipeng He; Rainer  Stöhr; Andrej Denisenko; Jörg Wrachtrup; Xiao Cheng Zeng; Ke Bian; En-Ge Wang; Ying Jiang

doi:10.1038/s41563-025-02456-8

Experimental observation of liquid-solid transition of nanoconfined water at ambient temperature

Wentian Zheng (Co-first Author), Shichen Zhang (Co-first Author), Jian Jiang (Co-first Author), Yipeng He, Rainer Stöhr, Andrej Denisenko, Jörg Wrachtrup, Xiao Cheng Zeng^*, Ke Bian^*, En-Ge Wang^*, Ying Jiang^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

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Abstract

Nanoconfined water exhibits many abnormal properties compared with bulk water. However, the origin of those anomalies remains controversial due to the lack of experimental access to the molecular-level details of the hydrogen-bonding network of water within a nanocavity. Here we address this issue by combining scanning probe microscopy with nitrogen-vacancy-centre-based quantum sensing. Such a technique allows us to characterize both dynamics and structure of water confined between a hexagonal boron nitride flake and a hydrophilic diamond surface by nanoscale nuclear magnetic resonance. We observe a liquid–solid phase transition of nanoconfined water at ambient temperature with an onset confinement size of ~1.6 nm, below which the water diffusion is considerably suppressed and the hydrogen-bonding network of water becomes structurally ordered. The complete crystallization is observed below a confinement size of ~1 nm. The liquid–solid transition is further confirmed by molecular dynamics simulation. These findings shed new light on the phase transition of nanoconfined water and may form a unified picture for understanding water anomalies at the nanoscale. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2026.

Original language	English
Number of pages	15
Journal	Nature Materials
Online published	12 Jan 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02456-8
Publication status	Online published - 12 Jan 2026

Funding

We thank L. Yang and C. Yu from Peking University (PKU) for their help with the 2D material transfer and fabrications, and N. Zhao from Beijing Computational Science Research Center (CSRC) for meaningful guidance and discussions on the NMR simulations. This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program under grant number 2021YFA1400500; the Program under grant number 2023ZD0301300; the National Natural Science Foundation of China under grant numbers 11888101, 21725302, 12474160, U22A20260 and 12250001; the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences under grant number XDB28000000; and the Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission under grant number Z231100006623009. W.Z. acknowledges the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation under grant number 2022M710235. Y.J. acknowledges the New Cornerstone Science Foundation through the New Cornerstone Investigator Program and the XPLORER PRIZE, and the Beijing Outstanding Young Scientist Program under grant number JWZQ20240101002. X.C.Z. acknowledges support from the Hong Kong Global STEM Professorship Scheme and the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (GRF grant numbers 11204123 and 11302225). J.J. acknowledges funding support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 22303072). R.S., A.D. and J.W. acknowledge the BMBF via Clusters4Future: QSens and the DFG under grant numbers FOR 2724, GRK 2642 and WR 28/34-1.

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title = "Experimental observation of liquid-solid transition of nanoconfined water at ambient temperature",

abstract = "Nanoconfined water exhibits many abnormal properties compared with bulk water. However, the origin of those anomalies remains controversial due to the lack of experimental access to the molecular-level details of the hydrogen-bonding network of water within a nanocavity. Here we address this issue by combining scanning probe microscopy with nitrogen-vacancy-centre-based quantum sensing. Such a technique allows us to characterize both dynamics and structure of water confined between a hexagonal boron nitride flake and a hydrophilic diamond surface by nanoscale nuclear magnetic resonance. We observe a liquid–solid phase transition of nanoconfined water at ambient temperature with an onset confinement size of ~1.6 nm, below which the water diffusion is considerably suppressed and the hydrogen-bonding network of water becomes structurally ordered. The complete crystallization is observed below a confinement size of ~1 nm. The liquid–solid transition is further confirmed by molecular dynamics simulation. These findings shed new light on the phase transition of nanoconfined water and may form a unified picture for understanding water anomalies at the nanoscale. {\textcopyright} The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2026.",

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AU - Zheng, Wentian

AU - Zhang, Shichen

AU - Jiang, Jian

AU - He, Yipeng

AU - Stöhr, Rainer

AU - Denisenko, Andrej

AU - Wrachtrup, Jörg

AU - Zeng, Xiao Cheng

AU - Bian, Ke

AU - Wang, En-Ge

AU - Jiang, Ying

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N2 - Nanoconfined water exhibits many abnormal properties compared with bulk water. However, the origin of those anomalies remains controversial due to the lack of experimental access to the molecular-level details of the hydrogen-bonding network of water within a nanocavity. Here we address this issue by combining scanning probe microscopy with nitrogen-vacancy-centre-based quantum sensing. Such a technique allows us to characterize both dynamics and structure of water confined between a hexagonal boron nitride flake and a hydrophilic diamond surface by nanoscale nuclear magnetic resonance. We observe a liquid–solid phase transition of nanoconfined water at ambient temperature with an onset confinement size of ~1.6 nm, below which the water diffusion is considerably suppressed and the hydrogen-bonding network of water becomes structurally ordered. The complete crystallization is observed below a confinement size of ~1 nm. The liquid–solid transition is further confirmed by molecular dynamics simulation. These findings shed new light on the phase transition of nanoconfined water and may form a unified picture for understanding water anomalies at the nanoscale. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2026.

AB - Nanoconfined water exhibits many abnormal properties compared with bulk water. However, the origin of those anomalies remains controversial due to the lack of experimental access to the molecular-level details of the hydrogen-bonding network of water within a nanocavity. Here we address this issue by combining scanning probe microscopy with nitrogen-vacancy-centre-based quantum sensing. Such a technique allows us to characterize both dynamics and structure of water confined between a hexagonal boron nitride flake and a hydrophilic diamond surface by nanoscale nuclear magnetic resonance. We observe a liquid–solid phase transition of nanoconfined water at ambient temperature with an onset confinement size of ~1.6 nm, below which the water diffusion is considerably suppressed and the hydrogen-bonding network of water becomes structurally ordered. The complete crystallization is observed below a confinement size of ~1 nm. The liquid–solid transition is further confirmed by molecular dynamics simulation. These findings shed new light on the phase transition of nanoconfined water and may form a unified picture for understanding water anomalies at the nanoscale. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2026.

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ER -

Experimental observation of liquid-solid transition of nanoconfined water at ambient temperature

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GRF: Development of Machine-Learning Force Field for Studying Electro-Freezing/Melting and Novel Phase Behavior of Nanoconfined Water/Ice

GRF: Machine-Learning Force Field Based Computer Simulation of Rich Physical Phase Behaviour of Two-Dimensional Water/Ice in Nano-Confinement

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Experimental observation of liquid-solid transition of nanoconfined water at ambient temperature

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GRF: Development of Machine-Learning Force Field for Studying Electro-Freezing/Melting and Novel Phase Behavior of Nanoconfined Water/Ice

GRF: Machine-Learning Force Field Based Computer Simulation of Rich Physical Phase Behaviour of Two-Dimensional Water/Ice in Nano-Confinement

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