Diamond stabilization of ice multilayers at human body temperature.

Diamond is a promising material for wear-resistant medical coatings. Here we report a remarkable increase in the melting point of ice resting on a diamond (111) surface modified with a submonolayer of Na+. Our molecular dynamics simulations show that the interfacial ice bilayer melts at a temperature 130 K higher than in free ice, and relatively thick ice films (2.6 nm at 298 K and 2.2 nm at 310 K ) are stabilized by dipole interactions with the substrate. This unique physical effect may enable biocompatibility-enhancing ice overcoatings for diamond at human body temperature.