Related papers: Can Ordered Precursors Promote the Nucleation of S…

Nucleation is the onset of a first-order phase transition by which a metastable phase transforms into a more stable one. Such a phase transition occurs when an initial system initially in equilibrium is destabilized by the change of an…

The nucleation of crystals from the liquid melt is often characterized by a competition between different crystalline structures or polymorphs, and can result in nuclei with heterogeneous compositions. These mixed-phase nuclei can display…

Recently, it was shown that a theoretical description of nucleation based on fluctuating hydrodynamics and classical density functional theory can be used to determine non-classical nucleation pathways for crystallization (Lutsko, Sci. Adv.…

Metallic colloids are frequently used in industry and provide understanding of science at microns to nanometers scales along with their applicability for various technologically important applications. Present investigations deal…

We report simulations on the homogeneous liquid-fcc nucleation of charged colloids for both low and high contact energy values. As a precursor for crystal formation, we observe increased local order at the position where the crystal will…

Nucleation phenomena commonly observed in our every day life are of fundamental, technological and societal importance in many areas, but some of their most intimate mechanisms remain however to be unraveled. Crystal nucleation, the early…

We present an atomistic study of heterogeneous nucleation in Ni employing transition path sampling, which reveals a template precursor-mediated mechanism of crystallization. Most notably, we find that the ability of tiny templates to modify…

Static recrystallization is an important aspect of metal processing. The initial stage of recrystallization - nucleation of new grains - determines its later stages. The accepted mechanisms of recrystallization nucleation are based on the…

Dynamical density functional simulations reveal structural aspects of crystal nucleation in undercooled liquids: the first appearing solid is amorphous, which promotes the nucleation of bcc crystals, but suppresses the appearance of the fcc…

The process of homogeneous crystal nucleation has been considered in a model liquid, where the interparticle interaction is described by a short-range spherical oscillatory potential. Mechanisms of initiating structural ordering in the…

Despite numerous efforts from numerical approaches to complement experimental measurements, several fundamental challenges have still hindered one's ability to truly provide an atomistic picture of the nucleation process in nanocrystals.…

We propose a computationally lean, two-stage approach that reliably predicts self-assembly behavior of complex charged molecules on a metallic surfaces under electrochemical conditions. Stage one uses ab initio simulations to provide…

We study polymorph selection in a model of charged colloids, with a focus on the higher-order structure prior to and during nucleation. Specifically, we carry out molecular dynamics simulations of a repulsive Yukawa system with a slightly…

Nucleation, the pivotal first step of crystallization, governs essential characteristics of crystallization products, including size distribution, morphology, and polymorphism. While understanding this process is paramount to the design of…

The crystallization of complex, concentrated alloys can result in atomic-level short-range order, composition gradients, and phase separation. These features govern the properties of the resulting alloy. While nucleation and growth in…

Crystallization represents the prime example of a disorder order transition. In realistic situations, however, container walls and impurities are frequently present and hence crystallization is heterogeneously seeded. Rarely the seeds are…

We review how phase-field models contributed to the understanding of various aspects of crystal nucleation including homogeneous and heterogeneous processes, and their role in microstructure evolution. We recall results obtained both by the…

When a system undergoes a transition from a liquid to a solid phase, it passes through multiple intermediate structures before reaching the final state. However, our knowledge on the exact pathways of this process is limited, mainly due to…

The kinetic mechanisms underlying bottom-up assembly of colloidal particles have been widely investigated in efforts to control crystallization pathways and to direct growth into targeted superstructures for applications including photonic…

According to classical nucleation theory, a crystal grows from a small nucleus that already bears the symmetry of its end phase - but experiments with colloids now reveal that, from an amorphous precursor, crystallites with different…