The dynamic process of homogenous nucleation in charged colloids is investigated by brute-force molecular dynamics simulation. To check if the liquid-solid transition will pass through metastable bcc, simulations are performed at the state points that definitely lie in the phase region of thermodynamically stable fcc. The simulation results confirm that, in all of these cases, the preordered precursors, acting as the seeds of nucleation, always have predominant bcc symmetry consistent with Ostwald’s step rule and the Alexander-McTague mechanism. However, the polymorph selection is not straightforward because the crystal structures formed are not often determined by the symmetry of intermediate precursors but have different characters under different state points. The region of the state point where bcc crystal structures of large enough size are formed during crystallization is narrow, which gives a reasonable explanation as to why the metastable bcc phase in charged colloidal suspensions is rarely detected in macroscopic experiments.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
7 May 2018
Research Article|
May 03 2018
Crystal nucleation and metastable bcc phase in charged colloids: A molecular dynamics study
Xinqiang Ji;
Xinqiang Ji
1
Key Laboratory of Microgravity (National Microgravity Laboratory), Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
, Beijing 100190, China
2
School of Engineering Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
, Beijing 100049, China
Search for other works by this author on:
Zhiwei Sun;
Zhiwei Sun
1
Key Laboratory of Microgravity (National Microgravity Laboratory), Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
, Beijing 100190, China
Search for other works by this author on:
Wenze Ouyang
;
Wenze Ouyang
a)
1
Key Laboratory of Microgravity (National Microgravity Laboratory), Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
, Beijing 100190, China
Search for other works by this author on:
Shenghua Xu
Shenghua Xu
1
Key Laboratory of Microgravity (National Microgravity Laboratory), Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
, Beijing 100190, China
2
School of Engineering Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
, Beijing 100049, China
Search for other works by this author on:
a)
Email: oywz@imech.ac.cn
J. Chem. Phys. 148, 174904 (2018)
Article history
Received:
November 17 2017
Accepted:
April 15 2018
Citation
Xinqiang Ji, Zhiwei Sun, Wenze Ouyang, Shenghua Xu; Crystal nucleation and metastable bcc phase in charged colloids: A molecular dynamics study. J. Chem. Phys. 7 May 2018; 148 (17): 174904. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5016235
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Sign In
You could not be signed in. Please check your credentials and make sure you have an active account and try again.
Sign in via your Institution
Sign in via your InstitutionPay-Per-View Access
$40.00
Citing articles via
Related Content
Atomistic insight into the non-classical nucleation mechanism during solidification in Ni
J. Chem. Phys. (April 2017)
Initial preorder as condition for L1 ordering in ultrathin CoPt films
J. Appl. Phys. (September 2013)
Path-integral Monte Carlo study of the structural and mechanical properties of quantum fcc and bcc hard-sphere solids
J. Chem. Phys. (January 2001)
The disordered Ising chain: Equivalent formulations for the thermodynamics
J. Chem. Phys. (August 2008)
Monolayer solids of tetrahedral molecules
J. Chem. Phys. (November 1987)