Free energy critical

Calculation and minimization of the free energy critical exponent... 

Other nucleation thermodynamic parameters such as the interfacial energy between Ndl23 or Y123 and melt, metastable zone width, Gibbs free energy, critical nucleation radii etc. were estimated by Paul et al. (1999, 2000) using classical nucleation theory. 

For the steady-state case, Z should also give the forward rate of formation or flux of critical nuclei, except that the positive free energy of their formation amounts to a free energy of activation. If one correspondingly modifies the rate Z by the term an approximate value for I results ... 

Classic nucleation theory must be modified for nucleation near a critical point. Observed supercooling and superheating far exceeds that predicted by conventional theory and McGraw and Reiss [36] pointed out that if a usually neglected excluded volume term is retained the free energy of the critical nucleus increases considerably. As noted by Derjaguin [37], a similar problem occurs in the theory of cavitation. In binary systems the composition of the nuclei will differ from that of the bulk... 

Bikerman [182] criticized the derivation of Eq. X-18 out of concern for die ignored vertical component of On soft surfaces a circular ridge is raised at the periphery of a drop (see Ref. 67) on harder solids there is no visible effect, but the stress is there. It has been suggested that the contact angle is determined by the balance of surface stresses rather than one of surface free energies, the two not necessarily being the same for a... 

This is the well known equal areas mle derived by Maxwell [3], who enthusiastically publicized van der Waal s equation (see figure A2.3.3. The critical exponents for van der Waals equation are typical mean-field exponents a 0, p = 1/2, y = 1 and 8 = 3. This follows from the assumption, connnon to van der Waals equation and other mean-field theories, that the critical point is an analytic point about which the free energy and other themiodynamic properties can be expanded in a Taylor series. 

An essential feature of mean-field theories is that the free energy is an analytical fiinction at the critical point. Landau [100] used this assumption, and the up-down symmetry of magnetic systems at zero field, to analyse their phase behaviour and detennine the mean-field critical exponents. It also suggests a way in which mean-field theory might be modified to confonn with experiment near the critical point, leading to a scaling law, first proposed by Widom [101], which has been experimentally verified. 

To detennine the critical exponents y and S, a magnetic interaction temi -hm is added to the free energy and... 

The assumption that the free energy is analytic at the critical point leads to classical exponents. Deviations from this require tiiat this assumption be abandoned. In mean-field theory. 

Unlike the pressure where p = 0 has physical meaning, the zero of free energy is arbitrary, so, instead of the ideal gas volume, we can use as a reference the molar volume of the real fluid at its critical point. A reduced Helmlioltz free energy in tenns of the reduced variables and F can be obtained by replacing a and b by their values m tenns of the critical constants... 

Figure A2.5.9. (Ap), the Helmholtz free energy per unit volume in reduced units, of a van der Waals fluid as a fiinction of the reduced density p for several constant temperaPires above and below the critical temperaPire. As in the previous figures the llill curves (including the tangent two-phase tie-lines) represent stable siPiations, the dashed parts of the smooth curve are metastable extensions, and the dotted curves are unstable regions. See text for details.

In 1972 Wegner [25] derived a power-series expansion for the free energy of a spin system represented by a Flamiltonian roughly equivalent to the scaled equation (A2.5.28). and from this he obtained power-series expansions of various themiodynamic quantities around the critical point. For example the compressibility... 

For critical quench experiments there is a synnnetry < )q = 0 and from equation (A3,3,50) S( ) = ( ), leading to a syimnetric local free energy ( figure A3,3,6) and a scaled order parameter whose average is zero, 8v / = i /. For off-critical quenches this synnnetry is lost. One has 8( ) = ( ) -t ( ) which scales to 5 j/ = with... 

From stochastic molecnlar dynamics calcnlations on the same system, in the viscosity regime covered by the experiment, it appears that intra- and intennolecnlar energy flow occur on comparable time scales, which leads to the conclnsion that cyclohexane isomerization in liquid CS2 is an activated process [99]. Classical molecnlar dynamics calcnlations [104] also reprodnce the observed non-monotonic viscosity dependence of ic. Furthennore, they also yield a solvent contribntion to the free energy of activation for tlie isomerization reaction which in liquid CS, increases by abont 0.4 kJ moC when the solvent density is increased from 1.3 to 1.5 g cm T Tims the molecnlar dynamics calcnlations support the conclnsion that the high-pressure limit of this unimolecular reaction is not attained in liquid solntion at ambient pressure. It has to be remembered, though, that the analysis of the measnred isomerization rates depends critically on the estimated valne of... 

Figure B3.3.10. Contour plots of the free energy landscape associated with crystal niicleation for spherical particles with short-range attractions. The axes represent the number of atoms identifiable as belonging to a high-density cluster, and as being in a crystalline environment, respectively, (a) State point significantly below the metastable critical temperature. The niicleation pathway involves simple growth of a crystalline nucleus, (b) State point at the metastable critical temperature. The niicleation pathway is significantly curved, and the initial nucleus is liqiiidlike rather than crystalline. Thanks are due to D Frenkel and P R ten Wolde for this figure. For fiirther details see [189].

P is the critical exponent and t denotes the reduced distance from the critical temperature. In the vicinity of the critical point, the free energy can be expanded in tenns of powers and gradients of the local order parameter m (r) = AW - I bW ... 

The fonn of the classical (equation C3.2.11) or semiclassical (equation C3.2.11) rate equations are energy gap laws . That is, the equations reflect a free energy dependent rate. In contrast with many physical organic reactivity indices, these rates are predicted to increase as -AG grows, and then to drop when -AG exceeds a critical value. In the classical limit, log(/cg.j.) has a parabolic dependence on -AG. Wlren high-frequency chemical bond vibrations couple to the ET process, the dependence on -AG becomes asymmetrical, as mentioned above. 

Fig. 1. Phase diagram for mixtures (a) upper critical solution temperature (UCST) (b) lower critical solution temperature (LCST) (c) composition dependence of the free energy of the mixture (on an arbitrary scale) for temperatures above and below the critical value.

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