Accuracy of zero-concentration extrapolation for the critical cooling rate of pure water

Determine whether extrapolating critical cooling rates from measurements on aqueous solutions with molar solute concentrations to zero solute concentration accurately yields the critical cooling rate of pure water.

Background

Prior estimates of the critical cooling rate of pure water have often been obtained by extrapolating data measured for aqueous solutions with nonzero solute concentrations down to zero concentration. The validity of this extrapolation is uncertain, and clarifying its accuracy is important because the critical cooling rate of pure water is widely used as a reference for assessing vitrification feasibility across methods and sample types.

This paper provides a direct experimental measurement of the critical cooling rate of pure water, but it does not explicitly assess the correctness of the extrapolation procedure itself. Hence, the question of whether the extrapolation method reliably predicts the pure-water value remains open.