Abstract
THE customary theory for the nucleation of ice on a crystalline substrate is based on the probability that a spherical cap of ice will grow, by statistical fluctuations, to a size such that the volume free energy and the surface free energy counterbalance1,2. Although this model is mathematically tractable, its validity has been questioned3,4 on the grounds that the macroscopic values of the physical properties of ice may not apply to aggregates of only a few molecules. No alternative theory has yet been proposed to describe the molecular process by which ice deposits on a substrate. It is the purpose of this communication to show that the first stage in the nucleation of ice on organic nucleators is the growth of monolayer patches of ice on the nucleator surface.
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EVANS, L. Two-dimensional Nucleation of Ice. Nature 213, 384–385 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1038/213384a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/213384a0
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