Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Recrystallization: Solid–Solution Equilibria01:10

Recrystallization: Solid–Solution Equilibria

1.8K
Recrystallization is a purification technique used to separate impurities from solid compounds. In this technique, no chemical reactions occur. Instead, it exploits physical properties only, specifically, the solubility differences between the desired compound and impurities, either at a single temperature or at different temperatures, and under other selected conditions. The solid-solution equilibrium (solubility equilibrium) of each component in the solution represents a binary phase...
1.8K
Crystal Growth: Principles of Crystallization01:25

Crystal Growth: Principles of Crystallization

4.0K
Crystallization is a phase transformation process in which crystals are precipitated from a supersaturated solution or formed from other sources. During crystallization, atoms or molecules arrange themselves into a well-defined, rigid crystal lattice to minimize energy.
Initiating crystallization involves manipulating the concentration of the solute and the temperature of the solution. Since crystal growth occurs when the ratio of concentration and solubility of the solute in the solvent...
4.0K
Colloidal precipitates01:09

Colloidal precipitates

3.4K
The high insolubility of some precipitates can result in an unfavorable relative supersaturation. This can lead to colloidal particles with a large surface-to-mass ratio, where adsorption is promoted. For instance, in the precipitation of silver chloride, silver ions are adsorbed on the surface of the colloidal particles, forming a primary layer. This layer attracts ions of opposite charge (such as nitrate ions), forming a diffuse secondary layer of adsorbed ions. This electric double layer...
3.4K
Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing02:39

Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing

14.2K
Heating a crystalline solid increases the average energy of its atoms, molecules, or ions, and the solid gets hotter. At some point, the added energy becomes large enough to partially overcome the forces holding the molecules or ions of the solid in their fixed positions, and the solid begins the process of transitioning to the liquid state or melting. At this point, the temperature of the solid stops rising, despite the continual input of heat, and it remains constant until all of the solid is...
14.2K
Colloids03:22

Colloids

19.9K
Children at play often make suspensions such as mixtures of mud and water, flour and water, or a suspension of solid pigments in water known as tempera paint. These suspensions are heterogeneous mixtures composed of relatively large particles that are visible to the naked eye or can be seen with a magnifying glass. They are cloudy, and the suspended particles settle out after mixing. On the other hand, a solution is a homogeneous mixture in which no settling occurs and in which the dissolved...
19.9K
Precipitation Processes01:12

Precipitation Processes

3.3K
The experimental conditions in a gravimetric analysis should be optimized to maximize the particle size and purity of the obtained precipitate. Ideally, the concentration of the precipitating reagent should be low with effective stirring to maintain low relative supersaturation for the growth of large crystals. In homogeneous precipitation, the precipitant is slowly generated by a chemical reaction in the solution to avoid local reagent excesses. For example, urea decomposes gradually to...
3.3K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Modeling Reveals How Direct-Acting Antivirals Redirect HBV Capsid Assembly Pathways to Noninfectious Products.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Dual-symmetry-guided assembly of complex lattices.

Nature·2026
Same author

A DNA-encoded recipe to direct multistage colloidal assembly.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same author

Enhanced Diffusion of Single, Lipid-Tethered Enzymes.

Nano letters·2026
Same author

Taming polymorphism of tubule self-assembly using templated growth.

The Journal of chemical physics·2026
Same author

Modular programming of interaction and geometric specificity enables assembly of complex DNA origami nanostructures.

Nature communications·2025
Same journal

Tau protein as a regulator of mitochondrial function and dynamics.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

A scalable, dividing cell model for the robust propagation and quantification of human sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease prions.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Epigenetic regulation of mesenchymal BMP signaling directs postnatal organ innervation.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Single-shot wide-field biochemical imaging at 1 kHz frame rate.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Morphogenesis and topological evolution of a frustrated nematic liquid crystal under confinement.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

B cell-intrinsic CXCR3 drives efficient generation of ectopic pulmonary germinal center responses to influenza A virus infection.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 3, 2025

Confocal Imaging of Confined Quiescent and Flowing Colloid-polymer Mixtures
10:56

Confocal Imaging of Confined Quiescent and Flowing Colloid-polymer Mixtures

Published on: May 20, 2014

12.4K

Two-step crystallization and solid-solid transitions in binary colloidal mixtures.

Huang Fang1, Michael F Hagan1, W Benjamin Rogers2

  • 1Martin A. Fisher School of Physics, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02453.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|October 30, 2020
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Crystallization can involve complex pathways beyond simple nucleation. This study reveals size-dependent thermodynamics drive multi-step crystallization via metastable phases in colloidal systems.

Keywords:
DNA-coated colloidsclassical nucleation theorycrystallization pathwaystwo-step nucleation

More Related Videos

Synthesis and Exfoliation of Discotic Zirconium Phosphates to Obtain Colloidal Liquid Crystals
08:54

Synthesis and Exfoliation of Discotic Zirconium Phosphates to Obtain Colloidal Liquid Crystals

Published on: May 25, 2016

8.8K
Synthesis and Characterization of Supramolecular Colloids
09:26

Synthesis and Characterization of Supramolecular Colloids

Published on: April 22, 2016

10.3K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Dec 3, 2025

Confocal Imaging of Confined Quiescent and Flowing Colloid-polymer Mixtures
10:56

Confocal Imaging of Confined Quiescent and Flowing Colloid-polymer Mixtures

Published on: May 20, 2014

12.4K
Synthesis and Exfoliation of Discotic Zirconium Phosphates to Obtain Colloidal Liquid Crystals
08:54

Synthesis and Exfoliation of Discotic Zirconium Phosphates to Obtain Colloidal Liquid Crystals

Published on: May 25, 2016

8.8K
Synthesis and Characterization of Supramolecular Colloids
09:26

Synthesis and Characterization of Supramolecular Colloids

Published on: April 22, 2016

10.3K

Area of Science:

  • Materials Science
  • Physical Chemistry
  • Colloid Science

Background:

  • Crystallization is crucial for materials science and applications like microelectronics and protein structure determination.
  • Traditional models describe nucleation via a single free-energy barrier.
  • Emerging evidence suggests complex crystallization pathways involving metastable intermediates.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To observe, characterize, and model crystallization pathways in a binary colloidal mixture.
  • To investigate the role of thermodynamics in different crystallization mechanisms.
  • To explore how size-dependent forces influence pathway selection.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized DNA-coated colloids for controlled crystallization experiments.
  • Employed optical microscopy for single-particle resolution imaging.
  • Applied enhanced sampling techniques to compute free-energy landscapes.

Main Results:

  • Observed both classical one-step and nonclassical two-step crystallization pathways.
  • Identified two-step pathways proceeding via solid-solid transformation of intermediate crystals.
  • Demonstrated that both pathway types are thermodynamically driven, with size-dependent phase competition governing two-step transitions.

Conclusions:

  • Crystallization pathways can be more complex than the classical nucleation theory.
  • Size-dependent thermodynamic forces can lead to multi-phase crystallization pathways without free-energy barriers.
  • Findings offer insights into controlling self-assembly processes in colloidal materials.