Solute effects on the dynamics and deformation of emulsion droplets during freezing.

Soft or rigid particles, suspended in a liquid melt, interact with an advancing solidification front in various industrial and natural processes, such as fabrication of particle-reinforced-composites, growth of crystals, cryopreservation, frost heave, and growth of sea ice. The particle dynamics relative to the front determine the microstructure as well as the functional properties of the solidified material. Previous studies have extensively investigated the interaction of foreign objects with a moving solid-liquid interface in pure melts while in most real-life systems, solutes or surface active impurities are almost always present. Here we study experimentally the interaction of spherical oil droplets with a moving planar ice-water interface, while systematically increasing the surfactant concentration in the bulk liquid, using