Related papers: Solvent hydrodynamics speed up crystal nucleation …
We study, by means of computer simulations, the crystal-melt interface of three different systems: hard-spheres, Lennard Jones and the TIP4P/2005 water model. In particular, we focus on the dynamics of surface waves. We observe that the…
The interplay between crystal nucleation and the structure of the metastable fluid has been a topic of significant debate over recent years. In particular, it has been suggested that even in simple model systems such as hard or charged…
Crystal growth and crystal coalescence processes in supercooled systems strongly depend on the concentration of crystallization centers. We perform atomistic dynamics simulations of the crystallization process in the ultrathin metallic film…
We discuss the crystallization process from the supersaturated melt in terms of its non-equilibrium properties. In particular, we quantify the amount of heat that is produced irreversibly when a suspension of hard spheres crystallizes. This…
Nucleation in the supercooled Yukawa system is relevant for addressing current challenges in understanding a range of crystallizing systems including white dwarf (WD) stars. We use both brute force and seeded molecular dynamics simulations…
Crystallization and vitrification are two different routes to form a solid. Normally these two processes suppress each other, with the glass transition preventing crystallization at high density (or low temperature). This is even true for…
In many technical applications, but also in natural processes like ice nucleation in clouds, crystallization proceeds in the presence of stresses and flows, hence the importance to understand the crystallization mechanism in simple…
Using computer simulations, we identify the mechanisms causing aggregation and structural arrest of colloidal suspensions interacting with a short-ranged attraction at moderate and high densities. Two different non-ergodicity transitions…
A mixture of hard-sphere particles and model emulsion droplets is studied with a Brownian dynamics simulation. We find that the addition of nonwetting emulsion droplets to a suspension of pure hard spheres can lead to both gas-liquid and…
Over recent years, molecular simulations have provided invaluable insights into the microscopic processes governing the initial stages of crystal nucleation and growth. A key aspect that has been observed in many different systems is the…
We consider the sedimentation of a colloidal gel under confinement in the direction of gravity. The confinement allows us to compare directly experiments and computer simulations, for the same system size in the vertical direction. The…
We have carried out computer simulations of overcompressed suspensions of hard monodisperse ellipsoids and observed their crystallization dynamics. The system was compressed very rapidly in order to reach the regime of slow, glass-like…
In dense colloids it is commonly assumed that hydrodynamic interactions do not play a role. However, a found theoretical quantification is often missing. We present computer simulations that are motivated by experiments where a large…
We systematically study the relationship between equilibrium and non-equilibrium phase diagrams of a system of short-ranged attractive colloids. Using Monte Carlo and Brownian dynamics simulations we find a window of enhanced…
We report a numerical study of the rate of crystal nucleation in a binary suspension of oppositely charged colloids. Two different crystal structures compete in the thermodynamic conditions under study. We find that the crystal phase that…
Systems with long-range interactions when quenced into a metastable state near the pseudo-spinodal exhibit nucleation processes that are quite different from the classical nucleation seen near the coexistence curve. In systems with…
Theoretical calculations for colloidal charge-stabilized and hard sphere suspensions show that hydrodynamic interactions yield a qualitatively different particle concentration dependence of the short-time self-diffusion coefficient. The…
Usually, supercooled liquids and glasses are thermodynamically unstable against crystallization. Classical nucleation theory (CNT) has been used to describe the crystallization dynamics of supercooled liquids. However, recent studies on…
Slow dynamics in a fluid are studied in one of the most basic systems possible: polydisperse hard spheres. Monodisperse hard spheres cannot be studied as the slow down in dynamics as the density is increased is preempted by crystallisation.…
We theoretically investigate homogeneous crystal nucleation in a solution containing a solute and a volatile solvent. The solvent evaporates from the solution, thereby continuously increasing the concentration of the solute. We view it as…