The ordered arrangement in antifreeze-proteins of the hydrophobic and hydrophilic functional groups protruding in the ice-binding phase facilitates the formation of ice like water, which provides the driving force for binding to the ice surface and inhibits the growth of ice crystal. Researchers from CAS Institute of Chemistry and CAS Institute of Applied Physics in Shanghai showed that the unique structure of graphene oxide (GO) also inhibited the growth and recrystallization of ice crystal, and shaped them into a hexagon. When 0.01% of GO was used for the cryopreservation of horse sperm, the motility of sperm increased from 24.3% to 71.3%.
CAS news release, February 22, 2017