Projekte

Heterogenous nucleation is not understood in more detail than homogenous

nucleation. E.g., in the case of hard colloidal spheres a flat wall increases the rate of crystal

growth by orders of magnitude compared to homogenous nucleation, while a rough wall

can suppress the formation of crystal completely for a certain roughness of the wall with

respect to the size of the particles. The transition from surface properties that promote

or suppress heterogeneous nucleation is not understood in detail. Thus, it is the main

goal of this project to reach a detailed understanding of heterogeneous crystal nucleation

close to flat, curved, rough, and structured surfaces that can either accelerate or suppress nucleation. We will focus on a deeper understanding on the microscopic level of single particles, as the properties of crystal precursors and critical crystal nuclei are of prime interest for gaining a better understanding of the nucleation process.

• Maret, Georg - Projektleiter
• Ziese, Florian - Mitarbeiter

• FB Physik