Abedi Samira, Chen Chau-Chyun, Vanapalli Siva A
Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409-3121, USA.
Phys Rev E. 2020 Mar;101(3-1):030602. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.101.030602.
We report a mechanism for nucleation in a monolayer of hexagonally packed monodisperse droplet arrays. Upon cooling, we observe solidified droplets to nucleate their supercooled neighbors giving rise to an autocatalyticlike mechanism for accelerated crystallization. This collective mode of nucleation depends on the strength and nature of droplet contacts. Intriguingly, the statistical distribution of the solidified droplet clusters is found to be independent of emulsion characteristics except surfactant. In contrast to classical nucleation theory, our work highlights the need to consider collective effects of nucleation in supercooled concentrated emulsions where droplet crowding is inevitable.
我们报道了一种在六边形排列的单分散液滴阵列单层中发生成核的机制。在冷却过程中，我们观察到凝固的液滴会使其过冷的相邻液滴成核，从而产生一种类似自催化的加速结晶机制。这种集体成核模式取决于液滴接触的强度和性质。有趣的是，发现凝固液滴簇的统计分布与除表面活性剂外的乳液特性无关。与经典成核理论不同，我们的工作强调了在过冷浓缩乳液中考虑成核集体效应的必要性，在这种乳液中液滴拥挤是不可避免的。
