Effect of Chemical Potential and Atomic-Scale Vibration of Nucleant Surface on Liquid Layering and Heterogeneous Nucleation

This study reveals the key role of chemical potential and atomic-scale vibration of the nucleant surface in dictating pre-nucleation liquid-layering and heterogenous nucleation. The effect of potential-well depth Dw and vibration strength $$\overline{\beta }_{{{\text{std}}}}$$ β ¯ std of the nucleant surface on the layering and nucleation was examined. We found that nucleants with larger Dw and smaller $$\overline{\beta }_{{{\text{std}}}}$$ β ¯ std induce more ordered pre-nucleation layers to enhance nucleation, and proposed that Dw and $$\overline{\beta }_{{{\text{std}}}}$$ β ¯ std shall be considered when searching for effective nucleants.