Dumbbells and onions in ternary nucleation.

Molecular simulations for a ternary nucleation system (water/n-nonane/1-butanol) demonstrate a more complex nucleation mechanism than previously thought, where critical nuclei with different compositions are present even for a given vapour-phase composition; the spatial distribution in these critical nuclei is heterogeneous and dumbbell and onion motifs are found; in the former, water and nonane nano-droplets are connected through a butanol handle, while in the latter a water core is surrounded by a nonane corona with an interfacial butanol shell.