Effect of Adhesion on the Structuring Process

The two cases were run on the computer one after the other, with identical starting configurations, but with adhesion introduced in the second run. The adhesion was first inserted at a low level, less than kT, and was then gradually increased to show its effect. The results showed that a small amount of adhesion strongly influenced the crystal growth phenomenon. In the first place the nuclei became more rounded, whereas in the hard-sphere case they had been percolating. Secondly, the crystals grew at different rates in the presence of adhesion. 

A typical picture showing these two effects is given in Fig. 5.18. Adhesion of less than 1 kT had little effect on the model, but adhesion of 2 kT slowed down the crystallization, leaving a lot of random material, which is shown as light colored spheres in Fig. 5.18. It was noticable too that the nuclei were more rounded in this case, as expected, because there was now an intafacial energy between random and structured phases, arising from the adhesion force. 

Newton, I., Opticks, Smith and Walford, London, 1701 (reprinted Dover, New York, 1952, p 395). 

Israelachvili, J.N., Intermolecular and Surface Forces, Academic Press, London, 1985, p 8. 

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