Heterogeneous nucleation in and out of pores.
We study the nucleation of a new thermodynamic phase in pores and find that the nucleation often proceeds via two steps: nucleation of pore filling, and nucleation out of the pore. These two rates have opposing dependencies on pore size, resulting in a pore size at which the nucleation rate of the new phase is maximal. This finding is relevant to attempts to design and use porous media to crystallize proteins.
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Amanda J
AJ
Department of Physics, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XH, United Kingdom. a.page@surrey.ac.uk
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Richard P
RP