The nature of amorphous ices has been debated for more than 35 years. In essence, the question is whether they are related to ice polymorphs or to liquids. The fact that amorphous ices are traditionally prepared from crystalline ice via pressure-induced amorphization has made a clear distinction tricky. In this work, we vitrify liquid droplets through cooling at ≥10⁶ K ⋅ s⁻¹ and pressurize the glassy deposit. We observe a first order–like densification upon pressurization and recover a high-density glass. The two glasses resemble low- and high-density amorphous ice in terms of both structure and thermal properties. Vitrified water shows all features that have been reported for amorphous ices made from crystalline ice. The only difference is that the hyperquenched and pressurized deposit shows slightly different crystallization kinetics to ice I upon heating at ambient pressure. This implies a thermodynamically continuous connection of amorphous ices with liquids, not crystals.

无定形冰的性质已经争论了超过 35 年。本质上，问题在于它们是否与冰晶型或液体有关。无定形冰传统上是通过压力诱导的非晶化从结晶冰制备的，这一事实使明显的区分变得棘手。在这项工作中，我们通过在 ≥10 ⁶ K ⋅ s ^{−1 下}冷却来使液滴玻璃化并对玻璃状沉积物加压。我们观察到加压后的一级致密化并回收高密度玻璃。这两种玻璃在结构和热性能方面类似于低密度和高密度的无定形冰。玻璃化水显示了由结晶冰制成的无定形冰的所有特征。唯一的区别是在环境压力下加热时，超淬火和加压沉积物显示出与冰 I 的结晶动力学略有不同。这意味着无定形冰与液体的热力学连续连接，而不是晶体。