Publication: Continuum model for mesh crystallization

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Title	Continuum model for mesh crystallization
Authors/Editors*	Tetervak, A.; Hudson, S.; Jizhong Zhang; Hutter, J.L.
Where published*	Physical Review E (Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics)
How published*	Journal
Year*	2005
Volume	71
Number	5
Pages	51606-1-8
Publisher
Keywords	solidification, mesh crystallization, kinetic inhibitor
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Abstract	The front propagation of a single crystallizing domain has been well studied for more than a century. In many important crystallization processes, however, multiple domains grow simultaneously, resulting in a multi-crystalline, mesh-like aggregate. This is the typical case for organic compounds, including polymers and alkanes. We have studied such growth in the case of a normal alkane precipitating from solution in the presence of kinetic inhibitors --- additives which, when present in trace amounts, have a dramatic effect on growth kinetics and morphology. In this case, we observe a distinct banded growth with a typical length scale of 300~$mu$m superimposed on the finer mesh-structure. We present a simple continuum model that demonstrates the essential behavior of this growth