The effect of SMF on freezing may be related to hydrogen bonding. Hydrogen bonding was found to be critical in ice nucleation . When water enters the supercooling state, hydrogen bonds become longer-lasting. Ice nucleation occurs when enough long-lived hydrogen bonds appear simultaneously at the same location . Applying SMF may lead to the alignment and thermal motions of water molecules , which reduces ice nucleation temperature and ice crystal sizes, contributing to a weakening of the hydrogen bonds. It was observed that an applied SMF lowers the ice nucleation temperature in pork and beef and reduces the ice crystal sizes in cherries . For cryogels, an applied SMF may have disrupted the formation of ice crystals during the high-temperature freezing step, reducing the aggregation of CNCs in the intercrystalline space between ice crystals. The resulting hydrogels thaw without retaining strong cryogelation networks. The stronger the cryogelation networks, the more structural restrictions they impose . Weak cryogelation networks led to the formation of cryogel scaffolds with increased lamellar pore characteristics after low-temperature freezing.