MSE Seminar – Dr. Jiani HONG (15 July 2026)
15 7月 2026 (周三) | 11:15 上午 - 12:15 下午
MSE Seminar – Dr. Jiani HONG (15 July 2026)
| Title: | Atomic-Scale Insights into Ice and Water via High-Resolution SPM |
| Speaker: | Dr. HONG Jiani Research Fellow Center for Quantum Materials Science, School of Physics, Peking University |
| Date: | 15 July 2026 (Wednesday) |
| Time: | 11:15 am |
| Venue: | Hong Kong Institute For Clean Energy, 6/F, Mong Man-Wai Building |
| Abstract: | Water is fundamental to life, yet as a many-body quantum system with a complex hydrogen-bond network and strong nuclear quantum effects, it continues to pose many open questions. Recently, our team developed hydrogen-sensitive scanning probe microscopy (SPM) based on higher-order electrostatic forces, and successfully applied it to interfacial water/ice systems. Starting from 3D bulk hexagonal ice (ice Ih) and its surfaces, we developed a universal high-resolution imaging method for insulating surfaces, enabling direct atomic-scale imaging of ice lh surfaces. These measurements reveal unique superstructures and premelting phenomena at the ice surface. By lowering the dimensionality, we identified an intrinsic 2D ice I phase, an interlocked double bilayer, stabilized on weakly interacting substrates such as Au(111), graphene, and hBN. Additionally. ion doping allowed the team to control a variety of more complex and intriguing ice phases stabilized by nuclear quantum effects. Finally, they examined how ice evolves from disorder to order in both its oxygen skeleton and proton arrangement. These findings provide new insights into the phase behavior and physicochemical properties of ice, while establishing high-resolution SPM as a broadly applicable technique for resolving atomic-scale structures, dynamics, and interactions in functional materials. |
| Enquiries: | mse@cityu.edu.hk |