Scientific Reports (Jun 2022)

The role of the diffusion in the predictions of the classical nucleation theory for quasi-real systems differ in dipole moment value

  • Kajetan Koperwas,
  • Filip Kaśkosz,
  • Frederic Affouard,
  • Andrzej Grzybowski,
  • Marian Paluch

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-13715-y
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

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Abstract In this paper, we examine the crystallization tendency for two quasi-real systems, which differ exclusively in the dipole moment's value. The main advantage of the studied system is the fact that despite that their structures are entirely identical, they exhibit different physical properties. Hence, the results obtained for one of the proposed model systems cannot be scaled to reproduce the results for another corresponding system, as it can be done for simple model systems, where structural differences are modeled by the different parameters of the intermolecular interactions. Our results show that both examined systems exhibit similar stability behavior below the melting temperature. This finding is contrary to the predictions of the classical nucleation theory, which suggests a significantly higher crystallization tendency for a more polar system. Our studies indicate that the noted discrepancies are caused by the kinetic aspect of the classical nucleation theory, which overestimates the role of diffusion in the nucleation process.