Heterogeneous Nucleation of Supercooled Water, and the Effect of an Added Catalyst

The statistics of liquid-to-crystal nucleation are measured rigorously by using a recently developed automated lag-time apparatus (ALTA). A single sample, in this case a sample of pure water both with and without an (insoluble) AgI crystal, is repeatedly cooled, nucleated, and thawed. Analysis of th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2002-07, Vol.99 (15), p.9631-9634
Main Authors: Heneghan, A. F., Wilson, P. W., Haymet, A. D. J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alloys
Biochemistry
Catalysis
Catalysts
Chemistry
Cooling
Crystallization
Crystals
Kinetics
Nucleation
Physical chemistry
Physical Sciences
Physics
Supercooling
Thermodynamics
Water
Water - chemistry
Water samples
Water temperature
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Summary:The statistics of liquid-to-crystal nucleation are measured rigorously by using a recently developed automated lag-time apparatus (ALTA). A single sample, in this case a sample of pure water both with and without an (insoluble) AgI crystal, is repeatedly cooled, nucleated, and thawed. Analysis of the data, coupled with a second kind of experiment, shows that the statistics of nucleation are consistent with a first-order kinetic mechanism over a wide range of supercooling temperatures. The limitations of classical nucleation theory are exhibited. Our analysis unifies many related experiments in biology, physics, chemistry, and chemical engineering.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.152253399