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Updated: Apr 20, 2026
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A Microfluidic Approach for the Study of Ice and Clathrate Hydrate Crystallization
Published on: August 18, 2022
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Direct observation of prefreezing at the interface melt-solid in polymer crystallization
Ann-Kristin Löhmann1, Thomas Henze1, Thomas Thurn-Albrecht2
1Institute of Physics, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06099 Halle, Germany.
Summary
Solid interfaces can induce crystallization through prefreezing, forming stable crystalline layers above melting points. This interfacial layer then drives bulk crystal growth, creating oriented structures.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Physical Chemistry
- Polymer Science
Background:
- Crystallization typically initiates at solid interfaces, often attributed to reduced nucleation barriers.
- An alternative mechanism, prefreezing, involves stable crystalline layers forming above the bulk melting temperature.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the phenomenon of prefreezing at a solid-interface using atomic force microscopy.
- To elucidate the role of interfacial prefreezing in initiating and directing bulk crystallization.
Main Methods:
- In situ observation using atomic force microscopy (AFM).
- Utilizing a polymeric model system and a crystalline solid interface.
Main Results:
- Direct visualization of an ordered interfacial layer forming above the bulk melting temperature.
- Observed increase in interfacial layer thickness approaching melt-solid coexistence.
- Demonstrated initiation of bulk crystal growth from the interfacial layer below the melting temperature, yielding oriented semicrystalline structures.
Conclusions:
- Interfacial prefreezing is a key mechanism for crystallization at solid interfaces.
- The ordered interfacial layer dictates the orientation and homogeneity of the resulting bulk crystalline structure.
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