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May 22, 2026The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters

Direct Measurements of Colloid Crystal Nucleation Barriers and Rates Comply with A Priori Classical Theory Predictions

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Authors

GCGary ChenJCJacinta C. ConradPVPeter G. Vekilov

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Overview

Randomized trial examines crystal nucleation rates in colloid suspensions, indicating insights into classical theory predictions.

Key Points

  • This research aims to directly measure crystal nucleation barriers and rates to test classical theory predictions.
  • Designed a suspension of attractive colloid particles to mimic molecular solutions.
  • Observed dynamics of solute particles and hexagonal crystals during nucleation in quasi-two-dimensional space.
  • Utilized classical nucleation theory to model the predicted sizes of critical nuclei and free energy barriers.
  • Nucleation rates complied with classical predictions, with measured sizes of nuclei agreeing with theory.
  • At high supersaturations, nucleation rates show a decoupling from expected behavior, suggesting a transition to a spinodal-like regime.
  • Prefactor in the nucleation rate law was significantly faster than classical theory predictions for larger nuclei due to multi-body interactions.

Cite This Study

Chen et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a0ff2cdd674f7c03778b38ehttps://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.6c00707
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