Crystals (Oct 2017)
Formation of Metastable Crystals from Supercooled, Supersaturated, and Supercompressed Liquids: Role of Crystal-Liquid Interfacial Free Energy
Abstract
The formation mechanism of metastable crystals from metastable liquids still remains elusive, although controlling the metastability of crystals and liquids already plays a crucial role in designing new materials in physics, chemistry, biology, and materials science. This review article describes how metastable phases can be obtained by controlling temperature, concentration, and pressure. In particular, I show the role of crystal-liquid interfacial free energy in the formation of metastable crystals from metastable liquids at a given driving force. In a microscopic viewpoint, local structure similarity between the metastable crystals and liquid determines the crystal-liquid interfacial free energy, and thus the nucleation barrier for the metastable crystals. The effect of the interfacial free energy on the formation of metastable crystals from supercooled, supersaturated, and supercompressed liquids will be demonstrated with metallic liquids, aqueous solutions, and water.
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