In the present work, the effect of surface treatments on the feasibility of controlled nucleation using the Vacuum-Induced Surface Freezing technique has been investigated. There are evidences that the application of VISF, in its current form, to aqueous solutions leads to sub-optimal results in presence of hydrophobic coatings. The experimental tests compared untreated and sulphate treated vials with containers having hydrophobic surfaces such as siliconized and TopLyo ® vials. The tested formulations were demineralized water, demineralized water + 0,02% w/v Tween 80, 5% w/w sucrose, 5% w/w sucrose + 0,02% w/v Tween 80, 5% w/w mannitol and 5% w/w mannitol+ 0,02% w/v Tween 80.