Related papers: Self-similarity in creeping salt crystallization
The phenomenon of salt creeping along a free surface remains only partially understood, particularly with respect to its dynamics. In this work, combining a theoretical model with controlled experiments, we identify three distinct kinetic…
The crystalline structure of minerals due to the highly ordered assembly of its constituent atoms, ions or molecules confers a considerable hardness and brittleness to the materials. As a result, they are generally subject to fracture. Here…
Spherulites are complex polycrystalline structures that form through the self-assembly of small aggregated nanocrystals starting from a central point and growing radially outward. Despite their wide prevalence and relevance to fields…
Salt precipitation during CO2 injection into saline aquifers obstructs flow-controlling pore throats and reduces permeability, yet reactive transport models assume salt forms dispersed, non-porous crystals with minimal flow impact. We…
We report a study of the structure of droplets of colloidal gels containing dissolved sodium chloride. The components segregate and form intricate patterns. The salt crystalizes in fractal and multi-fractal dendritic forms which are…
It is proposed that primary nucleation of amorphous microspherulites of hydrated silica in natural proto-precious-opal can be followed by a long range superlattice ordering process by means of electrostatic self-assembly. Necessary…
The generation of stress in a pore due to salt crystallization is generally analysed as a compressive stress generation mechanism using the concept of crystallization pressure. We report on a completely different stress generation…
The stress generation on pore walls due to the growth of a sodium chloride crystal in a confined aqueous solution is studied from evaporation experiments in microfluidic channels in conjunction with numerical computations of crystal growth.…
Complex crystal structures are composed of multiple local environments, and how this type of order emerges spontaneously during crystal growth has yet to be fully understood. We study crystal growth across various structures and along…
Salt crystallization is a major cause of weathering of artworks, monuments and rocks. Damage will occur if crystals continue to grow in confinement, i.e. within the pore space of these materials generating mechanical stresses. We report on…
The growth of crystals confined in porous or cellular materials is ubiquitous in Nature and industry. Confinement affects the formation of biominerals in living organisms, of minerals in the Earth's crust and of salt crystals damaging…
In glass forming liquids close to the glass transition point, even a very slight increase in the macroscopic density results in a dramatic slowing down of the macroscopic relaxation. Concomitantly, the local density itself fluctuates in…
When phospholipids crystallize within the otherwise fluid membranes of giant unilamellar vesicles, the resulting molecularly-thin "2D" solids exhibit great variety in their morphology evolution. For instance within membranes containing…
We report the synthesis of complex salts made from the cationic surfactant dodecyltrimethyl-ammonium and diblock copolymers poly(acrylic acid)-block-poly(acrylamide) of different molecular weights. In water, the complex salts self-assemble…
We study the response of materials with nanoscale pores containing sodium chloride solutions, to cycles of relative humidity (RH). Compared to pure fluids, we show that these sorption isotherms display much wider hysteresis, with a shape…
More and more observations indicate that young star clusters could retain imprints of their formation process. In particular, the degree of substructuring and rotation are possibly the direct result of the collapse of the parent molecular…
We experimentally and numerically study the structure and dynamics of a mono-disperse packing of spontaneously aligning self-propelled hard disks. The packings are such that their equilibrium counterparts form perfectly ordered hexagonal…
This short review is devoted to the simple process of drying a multi-component droplet consisting of a complex fluid containing a salt. These processes provide a fascinating subject for study. The explanation of the rich variety of patterns…
In a porous rock, the spatial distribution of the pore space induces a strong heterogeneity in fluid flow rates and in the stress distribution in the rock mass. If the rock microstructure evolves through time, for example by dissolution,…
The kinetics of phase transition processes often governs the resulting material microstruc-ture. Using optical microscopy, we here investigate the formation and stabilization of a po-rous crystalline microstructure forming in low-salt…