Direct measurement of the adhesive force between ice particles by micromanipulation

A novel micromanipulation method has been developed to measure directly the adhesive force between ice particles in air and in a sucrose solution. Ice particles were generated in the chamber of a heating/cooling stage under a microscope. The size of the ice particles ranged from 10 to several hundreds of microns. Results indicate that the adhesion force between ice particles increased with their sizes and contact time. The adhesion between ice particles in air was significantly stronger than that in the sucrose solution. The details of the experimental technique are described and some preliminary measurement results presented.