What do I need to create water with negatively charged ions?

ProfHankD wrote:

I think it causes slow transport of the crystaline nucleation sites... not much different from using microwaves? I do know that + vs - ions can cause directional freezing with impurities pushed to one side. Also, anything that slows freezing tends to make clearer ice because air bubbles have longer to escape.

That's correct. Really pure water generally has high resistance. However, electrolysis of salted water can separate water into Hydrogen and Oxygen even using something as wimpy as a 9V battery .

Well, I'm a Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering... but that doesn't help me much with this (I'm really a computer engineer). Maybe somebody involved in battery chemistry?

I guess I should have looked at your name a little more closely.

I did try this with a 9V, but it didn't seem to do anything. Part of my issue is not wanting to use to much current, for obvious reasons. I guess I also have to investigate how to make sure that the charge/field is turning the ions to a negative charge over a positive one.

Thanks for your input!

petrochemist wrote:

Normal ice has a well defined structure with the hydrogens on one molecule bonding to oxygens on other molecules in a regular way, the structure is more spaced out that in liquid water which is why ice floats. I'm sure I've got a material science book somewhere with the structure illustrated.

At extreme pressure/temperature there are other forms of ice structures - I think at least 5 of them. These will be well outside the realms of our experience but it's possible an electric field promotes one of them so it's taken instead of the more normal form.

I'd class pure water as a poor conductor rather than a terrible one. Ultra pure water has a resistance of 18 megaohms per cm while many insulators are far above that. FWIW Current flow is not actually necessary to align the molecules an electric field is sufficient.

Thanks for the info.

How would I generate a strong enough EM field in or around a small body of water in a freezer that would force the ions to be negatively charged?