cryofracturen.
/ˈkrʌɪə(ʊ)ˌfraktʃə/, U.S. /ˈkraɪoʊˌfræktʃər/ A technique in which an object is rapidly and drastically cooled, typically with liquid nitrogen, in order to break it down for internal study or disassembly.
ΚΠ
1970 G. H. Haggis in Proc. 3rd Ann. Scanning Electron Microscope Symp. 99/1 The present paper explores the possibilities of cryofracture. In this technique a small piece of tissue is snap-frozen..and the hard, frozen tissue is fractured..to create the surface.
1985 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 1 Sept. (Late City final ed.) iii. 4/3 Each disposal plant will require a facility to safely extract the toxic agent from its hardware. One candidate is a process called cryofracture, which involves freezing each weapon and cracking it open.
2003 J. Lucocq in J. Davey & M. Lord Essent. Cell Biol. I. xiv. 108 The situation has changed with the advent of methods that allow cryofracture, coating, and labelling of replicas from rapidly frozen tissues.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
cryofracturev.
/ˈkrʌɪə(ʊ)ˌfraktʃə/, U.S. /ˈkraɪoʊˌfræktʃər/ transitive. To subject to the technique of cryofracture; to break down by rapid, drastic cooling.
ΚΠ
1971 J. Lim in Proc. 4th Ann. Scanning Electron Microscope Symp. 259/1 In a similar attempt to cryofracture various parts of the inner ear, the author was recently witness to a strange phenomenon... The tissue fractured voluntarily.
1995 Onion World May–June 17/2 Some seeds were cryofractured or bisected longitudinally to examine the internal structure.
2001 R. S. Kody & A. J. Lesser in J. Moalli Plastics Failure Anal. & Prevention v. 195 To examine morphology, the samples were cryofractured in liquid nitrogen.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1970v.1971