Capillary freezing or complete wetting of hard spheres in a planar hard slit?

Extensive simulations of a hard sphere fluid confined between two planar hard walls show the onset of crystalline layers at the walls at about 98.3% of bulk crystallization density rho(f) independent of the wall separations L(z), and is, hence, a single wall phenomenon. As the bulk density far from the wall rho(b) increases, the thickness of the crystalline film appears to increase logarithmically, with (rho(f)-rho(b)) indicating complete wetting by the hard sphere crystal of the wall-fluid interface. Increasing rho(b) further, we observe a jump in the adsorption which depends on L(z) and corresponds to capillary freezing. The formation of crystalline layers below bulk crystallization, the logarithmic growth of the crystalline film, its independence of L(z), and its clear distinction from capillary freezing lend strong evidence for complete wetting by the hard sphere crystal at the wall-fluid interface.     

The mass transfer process and the growth rate of NaCl crystal growth by evaporation based on temporal phase evaluation

The mass transfer process and the crystal growth rate have been proved to be very important in the study of crystal growth kinetics, which influence the crystal quality and morphological stability. In this paper, a new method based on temporal phase evaluation was presented to characterize the mass transfer process in situ and determine the crystal growth rate. The crystallization process of NaCl crystal growth by evaporation was monitored in situ by a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, and the absolute concentration evolution, the evaporation rate and the real-time supersaturation of solution were obtained using temporal phase analysis, which acted as a novel technique to extract phase variation along time axis recently. Based on the evaporation rate and the absolution concentration, a new method to calculate mass transfer flux during the crystal growth without the knowledge of the mass transfer coefficient was proposed, and then the crystal growth rate could also be retrieved under the hypothesis of cubic crystals. The results show that the crystal growth rate increases with the supersaturation linearly. It is in agreement with the diffusion theories, which presume that matter is deposited continuously on a crystal face at a rate proportional to the difference in concentration between the points of deposition and the bulk of solution. The method is applicable to the research of crystallization process based on evaporation or vapor diffusion of which the precise conditions of nucleation and supersaturation are usually unknown because of the complexity of the evaporation rate and crystal growth rate.     

Assembly of body-centered cubic crystals in hard spheres

We investigate the crystallization of monodisperse hard spheres confined by two square patterned substrates (possessing the basic character of the body-centered cubic (bcc) crystal structure) at varying substrate separations via molecular dynamics simulation. Through slowly increasing the density of the system, we find that crystallization under the influence of square patterned substrates can set in at lower densities compared with the homogeneous crystallization. As the substrate separation decreases, the density, where crystallization occurs (i.e., pressure drops), becomes small. Moreover, two distinct regimes are identified in the plane of bcc particle fraction and density for the separation range investigated. For large substrate separations, the bcc particle fraction displays a local maximum as the density is increased, and the resulting formed crystals have a polycrystalline structure. However, and more importantly, another situation emerges for small substrate separations: the capillary effects (stemming from the presence of two substrates) overwhelm the bulk driving forces (stemming from the spontaneous thermal fluctuations in the bulk) during the densification, eventually resulting in the formation of a defect-free bcc crystal (unstable with respect to the bulk hard-sphere crystals) by using two square patterned substrates.     

固液界面温度的一种测量方法

固液界面处温度的精密测量是晶体生长动力学研究的一个重要实验数据。本实验设计了一种适合于偏光显微镜用的温度调节试样台,用直接动态观察法,借助于直径25微米的铜-康铜热电偶,测量了水杨酸苯酯晶体的固液界面附近的温度分布。在△T<3℃的低过冷度的生长条件下,铜制试样台的热量输运条件稳定。固液界面处的温度增加值约为熔液过冷度的1％。这种温度调节试样台适合于生长机理的高精度定量实验研究。 关键词：     

Epitaxial crystal growth of charged colloids

A pattern of repulsive, charged lines is shown to direct three-dimensional (3D) crystallization in a system of long-range repulsive, density-matched colloids. At volume fractions where the bulk phase behavior leads to bcc crystallization, the 1D template was found to induce formation of a metastable fcc crystal. The bcc crystals were oriented with the (100) or the (110) plane, with twofold twinning, parallel to the template. The template further induced prefreezing of the (100) plane. At a large mismatch between template and interparticle spacing, 1D strings form in the surface layer of a 3D crystal.     

Study on the formation mechanism of isoniazid crystal defects and defect elimination strategy based on ultrasound

In crystallization, crystal growth defects may reduce the strength and purity of crystals, which are not welcomed in the industry. Herein, isoniazid (INH) crystals were chosen as an example to investigate the formation of crystal defects at the molecular scale by combining experiments and molecular dynamics simulations. It was found that the strong interaction between the solvent and the crystal surface, high temperature, small stirring rate, and low supersaturation can lead to more pronounced crystal defects. The bulk severity of INH crystal defects was reflected by N₂ adsorption–desorption measurement. Besides, the single-crystal growth experiments manifested the rough growth mechanism for the (1 1 0) surface in the axial direction and the stepwise growth mechanism for the (0 0 2) surface in the radial direction. For the (1 1 0) surface, cavities occurred under the condition where the growth rate of the crystal edges and corners was greater than that of the surface center due to the starvation phenomenon of diffusion. While for the (0 0 2) surface, when the solvent removal rate was lower than the solute insertion rate, liquid inclusions were formed, which was verified by Raman microscopy. Furthermore, the ultrasonic strategy was successfully proposed to eliminate INH crystal defects and prepare perfect INH crystals. Moreover, the mechanism of ultrasound to reduce the crystal defect was proposed. We believe this work can provide insights into the design and preparation of defect-free crystals in crystallization.     

The Effect of Orientation Relaxation on Polymer Melt Crystallization Studied by Monte Carlo Simulations

We use dynamic Monte Carlo simulations to study the athermal relaxation of bulk extended chains and the isothermal crystallization in intermediately relaxed melts. It is found that the memory of chain orientations in the melt can significantly enhance the crystallization rates. The crystal orientation and lamellar thickness essentially depend on the orientational relaxation. Moreover, there is a transition of the nucleation mechanism during the isothermal crystallization from the intermediately relaxed melts. These results explain the mechanism of the self-nucleation by orientation and suggest that in flow-induced polymer crystallization, the orientational relaxation of chains decides the crystal orientation.     

Single crystal formation of amino acid with high temporal controllability by combining femtosecond and continuous wave laser trapping

We investigated laser trapping crystallization of glycine by using femtosecond (fs) laser as a trapping light source. Impulsively exerted fs laser pulses crystallized glycine more effectively than that induced by continuous wave (CW) laser trapping. Highly efficient crystallization and crystal growth behavior indicates fs laser irradiation increased the concentration not only at the focal spot, but also around the laser focus. Furthermore, we found that irradiation of fs pulses to CW laser-induced locally high supersaturation region enables immediate crystallization. Spatiotemporally controlled triggering of a single crystal formation with sub-second time resolution has achieved by integrating fs and CW laser trapping techniques.     

20GeS2·80Sb2S3硫系玻璃的析晶行为及动力学机理研究

实现玻璃微晶化过程控制的基础是要充分认识其析晶行为及动力学机理. 利用示差扫描量热法和析晶热处理等手段, 研究发现 20GeS₂·80Sb₂S₃硫系玻璃属于表面析晶, 在268℃(T_g+30℃)下热处理60 h, 可以获得表面约40 μm的Sb₂S₃晶层复合玻璃陶瓷样品. 在此基础上, 利用非等温法从理论上分析该玻璃的析晶动力学机理. 计算得到其析晶活化能E_c为(223.6±24.1)kJ·mol^-1, 在热处理温度(268℃)下的析晶速率常数K为1.23×10^-4 s^-1, 属于较难析晶的玻璃组成; 玻璃的晶体生长指数m和晶体生长维数n均为2, 表明其Sb₂S₃相的析晶行为是二维生长过程, 与析晶实验结果完全相符. 由此可知, 对于Sb₂S₃晶体复合的硫系玻璃陶瓷样品可通过玻璃粉末压片烧结、带铸法或丝网印刷法制备获得, 为今后功能硫系玻璃的开发提供实验依据和理论指导. 关键词： 硫系玻璃 微晶化 析晶动力学 析晶行为     

Two-stage crystallization on the surface of smectic nanofilms

The influence of the surface and finite size on crystallization in nanofilms of a smectic C liquid crystal with thicknesses between two and several tens of molecular layers has been studied. Transitions in a single surface molecular layer have been detected by optical methods. It has been found that transitions on the film surface take place at a temperature 8°C higher than the crystallization temperature in a bulk sample. Two-stage crystallization has been detected in surface layers where the surface induces a transition to an intermediate structure different from the structure of the phases of the bulk sample.     

相场晶体法模拟过冷熔体中的晶体生长

利用相场晶体(phase-field crystal)模型,采用有限差分法,模拟了过冷熔体中晶体生长过程,研究了不同相区、不同过冷度对晶体生长过程的影响.结果表明,在共存区中,随着演化的进行,晶体生长被抑制,液-晶边界层逐渐变厚;在单相区中,随着过冷度的增大,晶态区面积显著增加,液-晶边界层逐渐变薄.晶体生长速度和过冷度成近似线性的关系. 关键词： 相场晶体 自由能函数 过冷熔体 晶体生长     

Direct visualisation of homogeneous and heterogeneous crystallisation in an ensemble of confined domains of poly(ethylene oxide)

We present a study of homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation in polymer crystallisation. In bulk samples the crystallization is typically dominated by nucleation from defects (heterogeneous nucleation), and consequently studies must rely on sample preparation to minimize this effect. We present a study of nucleation within discrete droplets of poly(ethylene oxide) that are formed by the dewetting of a thin film on an unfavourable substrate. The samples provide an ensemble of impurity-free droplets, with length scales that can easily be measured. We show that the data for heterogeneous and homogeneous nucleation is qualitatively different, and that the data mirrors the fundamental differences in the underlying mechanisms for the two nucleation processes. The experiments presented here provide a simple method that can be used to study heterogeneous and homogeneous nucleation in great detail.Received: 1 January 2003, Published online: 30 October 2003PACS: 61.41. + e Polymers, elastomers, and plastics - 68.55.-a Thin film structure and morphology - 81.10.-h Methods of crystal growth; physics of crystal growth     

Crystallization of lead zirconate titanate films by laser annealing

The structure of lead zirconate titanate Pb(Zr _x Ti_{1 ? x} )O₃ thin films grown by chemical solution deposition on Si-SiO₂-Ti-Pt substrates has been studied using transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive analysis. Films crystallization has been performed using laser annealing. It has been found that, in contrast to isothermal annealing where nucleation on the platinum layer dominates, crystallization and growth of spherical perovskite crystals occur in the film bulk. The perovskite phase crystal size increases from 10 to 120 nm with increasing laser beam energy.     

沉降对带电胶体粒子结晶过程的影响

采用密度匹配法(重水与水按一定比例混合),以及反射光谱法,研究了重力沉降作用对直径为98 nm的带电胶体粒子结晶过程的影响. 结果表明,重力沉降在晶体生长的初期提高了晶体生长速率,而后期降低了晶体生长速率,这是由于在晶体生长初期,沉降作用可使更多的粒子结合到晶体结构中,而当晶体尺寸进一步增加,其沉降速率也相应地增大,晶相与液相间的摩擦阻力导致一部分颗粒从胶体晶体上脱落. 总的来说,重力沉降在初期加剧了晶体的生长,后期阻碍了晶体的生长. 另外,在微重力环境下形成的胶体晶体比在重力环境下形成的胶体晶体更加完整紧密.     

Crystallization of Poly(Ethylene Oxide) in Thin Films

Crystallization of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) in thin films was studied using hot-stage polarized optical microscopy. Isothermal linear crystal growth rates were measured for various film thicknesses at various degrees of undercooling. At a given crystallization temperature, the linear crystal growth rate decreased exponentially with decreasing film thickness below a film thickness of 80 nm. Films showed similar spherulitic morphology down to a film thickness of 30 nm. Control experiments on hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces showed that surface chemistry affects stability of the polymer films and causes a competition between crystallization and dewetting.     

Polymer-mediated and ultrasound-assisted crystallization of ropivacaine: Crystal growth and morphology modulation

The objective of this research was to modify the crystal shape and size of poorly water-soluble drug ropivacaine, and to reveal the effects of polymeric additive and ultrasound on crystal nucleation and growth. Ropivacaine often grow as needle-like crystals extended along the a-axis and the shape was hardly controllable by altering solvent types and operating conditions for the crystallization process. We found that ropivacaine crystallized as block-like crystals when polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) was used. The control over crystal morphology by the additive was related to crystallization temperature, solute concentration, additive concentration, and molecular weight. SEM and AFM analyses were performed providing insights into crystal growth pattern and cavities on the surface induced by the polymeric additive. In ultrasound-assisted crystallization, the impacts of ultrasonic time, ultrasonic power, and additive concentration were investigated. The particles precipitated at extended ultrasonic time exhibited plate-like crystals with shorter aspect ratio. Combined use of polymeric additive and ultrasound led to rice-shaped crystals, which the average particle size was further decreased. The induction time measurement and single crystal growth experiments were carried out. The results suggested that PVP worked as strong nucleation and growth inhibitor. Molecular dynamics simulation was performed to explore the action mechanism of the polymer. The interaction energies between PVP and crystal faces were calculated, and mobility of the additive with different chain length in crystal-solution system was evaluated by mean square displacement. Based on the study, a possible mechanism for the morphological evolution of ropivacaine crystals assisted by PVP and ultrasound was proposed.     

Lysozyme crystallization in hydrogel media under ultrasound irradiation

Sonocrystallization implies the application of ultrasound radiation to control the nucleation and crystal growth depending on the actuation time and intensity. Its application allows to induce nucleation at lower supersaturations than required under standard conditions. Although extended in inorganic and organic crystallization, it has been scarcely explored in protein crystallization. Now, that industrial protein crystallization is gaining momentum, the interest on new ways to control protein nucleation and crystal growth is advancing. In this work we present the development of a novel ultrasound bioreactor to study its influence on protein crystallization in agarose gel. Gel media minimize convention currents and sedimentation, favoring a more homogeneous and stable conditions to study the effect of an externally generated low energy ultrasonic irradiation on protein crystallization avoiding other undesired effects such as temperature increase, introduction of surfaces which induce nucleation, destructive cavitation phenomena, etc. In-depth statistical analysis of the results has shown that the impact of ultrasound in gel media on crystal size populations are statistically significant and reproducible.     

X-ray topography characterization of the structural response of Ge(Ga) crystals to variation in gravity force vector orientation during crystallization

The influence of crystallization process disturbances connected with the variation of the crystallization front orientation relative to the gravity force vector (characteristic for crystal growth under conditions of microgravity onboard space vehicles) on the real crystal structure has been investigated by plane-wave X-ray topography. It has been found that these disturbances can result in a local disorder in the impurity distribution in the form of microsegregation growth striations. Quantitative estimations of the amplitude for the composition variation based on the analysis of contrast in growth striation images obtained by the method of plane-wave X-ray topography have been carried out.     

Interactions between high-temperature deformation and crystallization in zirconium-based bulk metallic glasses

High-temperature deformation of a ZrTiCuNiBe bulk metallic glass (BMG) is investigated by compression tests in the supercooled liquid region. When the temperature is decreased or strain rate increased, the amorphous alloy exhibits the usual Newtonian/non-Newtonian transition behaviour. Using specific heat treatments, partially crystallized alloys are produced, the associated microstructures characterized and the volume fractions of the crystal measured. The interaction between high-temperature deformation and crystallization is investigated by appropriate mechanical testing. According to these measurements, partial crystallization is responsible for a significant increase in flow stress and the promotion of non-Newtonian behaviour. Deformation does not significantly change the volume fraction, composition or size of the crystal. The flow-stress increase with crystallization is analyzed under different hypotheses. We conclude that the flow-stress increase cannot be interpreted through a compositional change in the residual amorphous matrix, either by reinforcement due to hard crystallites or by connections between crystals. It appears that the effect is due to the nanometric size of the crystals alone.     

AlN晶体物理气相传输法生长坩埚的热场分析

采用物理气相传输法在钨制坩埚上制备AlN单晶.通过采用COMSOL软件中的固体传热和磁场模块,对AlN晶体生长的坩埚的热场进行仿真,同时针对不同的线圈直径以及不同的线圈位置对坩埚热场的影响进行模拟,提出了相应的处理方式.结果表明:当线圈直径增大,坩埚结晶区和升华区的温度在相同的加热时间下会增加,并且增加的温度存在峰值.当线圈的垂直位置发生变化的时候,结晶区和升华区的温度场也会发生变化,从上向下移动的过程中仍然存在温度的峰值,并且结晶区和升华区的温度关系会发生翻转,导致温度梯度阻碍晶体生长.在晶体生长过程中升华区和结晶区的温度关系依旧会发生翻转.但是通过线圈跟随籽晶表面生长层的变厚而同步移动,可以保持相对稳定的温度关系,维持晶体正常持续生长.