Reconsidering the Clapeyron equation in the freezing of colloidal suspensions: From macroscale to the microscale.

A long controversy of ice lensing exists in the research of frost heave. By elucidating the mechanical and thermodynamic equilibria at the interface, the thermodynamics of the water/ice interface is revealed from macroscale to microscale for the freezing of colloidal suspensions. The application of the Clapeyron equation is confirmed both at macroscale to microscale via curvature effect. The origin of ice lensing/banding can be initialized from the growth of pore ice in the interpretation of thermodynamics at the interface, even without the traditional mechanical analyses. It is also proposed that the packing status of the porous structure in the particle layer ahead of the water/ice interface determines the ice lensing behaviors. The results presented here show different scenarios compared with previous theoretical investigations of frost heave, and may shed light on the researches of this area.