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Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
Published on: May 15, 2017
Transient phase-induced nucleation
1Exxon Research and Engineering Company, Corporate Research Science Laboratory, Route 22 East, Annandale, NJ 08801, USA.
Abstract:
A transient metastable rotator phase occurring on crystallization of hexadecane into its triclinic phase from the supercooled melt was directly observed with time-resolved synchrotron x-ray scattering. In this system, the limit of supercooling (the crystallization temperature) is determined by the thermodynamic stability of the transient phase with respect to the liquid. The crystallization kinetics of the homologous series of n-alkanes was measured and explained in terms of a crossover from stability to "long-lived" metastability to transient metastability. This crossover allowed further confirmation of the nature of the transient phase.
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