Nucleation: What happens at the initial stage?

Abstract

Crystallizing growth: The initial structure of crystal unclei is supersaturation-dependent. At low degrees of supersaturation, liquid-like nuclei are formed initially, which undergo a continuous structure transition from liquid-like to crystal-like as the size N increases. This gradual structure evolution substantially lowers the nucleation barrier ΔGz.ast; and facilitates the nucleation relative to the formation of crystal-like clusters from the beggining. © 2009 Wiley-VCH Verleg GmbH & Co. KGaA.