6533b870fe1ef96bd12cfa7a

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Solidification kinetics of hard-sphere colloidal suspensions

Andreas StippThomas PalbergAndreas HeymannChristian Sinn

subject

SupersaturationOrders of magnitude (time)ChemistryChemical physicsNucleationMineralogyCrystal growthCrystalliteHard spheresLight scatteringOrder of magnitude

description

We investigate the solidification dynamics of hard-sphere colloidal suspensions applying simultaneously small-angle and Bragg light scattering. These experiments allow a consistent picture of nucleation and crystal growth on the level of large-scale density fluctuations and of density fluctuations on the level of individual crystallites. We observe a temporally almost constant nucleation rate after an induction time that decreases with supersaturation. The classical expectation for the nucleation rate density as a function of supersaturation is in accordance with our data. We investigate the validity of the Wilson—Frenkel growth law for hard-sphere systems, which also fits our data satisfactorily. The kinetic prefactors are found to be only 2 orders of magnitude smaller (for nucleation) and 1 order of magnitude larger (for crystal growth) than expected from classical considerations. We discuss the influences of particle size poly-dispersity on our data.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2007-08-12
https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45725-9_57