Phys.org August 17, 2021
Understanding the process of ice formation can decelerate the rate at which glaciers melt and sea levels rise and alleviate other major environmental concerns. To better understand the non-classical nucleation theories researchers at the University of Hong Kong combined Markov State Models (MSMs) and transition path theory (TPT) to identify intermediate states of disordered ice mixtures and compare parallel pathways (classical vs. non-classical). This advantage helped unravel the underlying mechanisms of non-classical nucleation processes and the co-existence of the two pathways. They showed that the disordered mixing of ice stabilizes the critical nucleus and makes the non-classical nucleation pathway as accessible as the classical pathway, and at elevated temperatures, the nucleation process prefers to proceed via the classical pathway. The method can be extended to other crystal nucleation processes that are challenging to study, which will open new doors for scientists attempting to predict and control crystallization processes…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
Selection of representative collective variables (CVs). Credit: Nature Communications volume 12, Article number: 4954 (2021)Â