Curvature correction to the surface tension of small nuclei · revision history

Revision 2

Accepted · core change · record

Changes against revision 1:

Title
Curvature correction to the surface tension of small nuclei
Plain
Classical nucleation theory uses the surface tension of a flat interface, but critical nuclei are only a few molecules across, where the curvature should change the tension. The size and even the sign of this correction is not agreed on.
Precise · changed · core
Revision 1: For a nucleus of radius $R$, gamma(R) = gamma_inf (1 - 2 $\delta$ / R + ...) with Tolman length delta. Determine the sign and magnitude of delta for the Lennard-Jones liquid-vapor interface and for crystal-melt interfaces, and whether the expansion in $1/R$ is valid at critical-nucleus sizes of about 10 to 30 Angstrom.
Revision 2: For a nucleus of radius $R$, $\gamma(R) = \gamma_{\infty}(1 - 2$ $\delta$ $/ R + ...)$ with Tolman length $\delta$. Determine the sign and magnitude of delta for the Lennard-Jones liquid-vapor interface and for crystal-melt interfaces, and whether the expansion in $1/R$ is valid at critical-nucleus sizes of about 10 to 30 Angstrom.
Settled by
Consistent determinations of $\delta$ from independent simulation methods (droplet and bubble free energies, virial route), and a test of the $1/R$ expansion against measured nucleation barriers.
Kind
well-posed
Answer type
value
References
(empty)
Literature status
contested
Status note
Simulations for the Lennard-Jones liquid-vapor case point to a small negative $\delta$ of order $-0.1$ particle diameters (approximately), but crystal-melt values and the validity of the expansion are unsettled.
Posed since
1949

Decisions