A time resolved static light scattering study on nucleation and crystallization in a colloidal system

Abstract

The crystallization process in a colloidal system of slightly charged spherical particles is studied with time-resolved static light scattering. The induction time, the crystallization rate, the scattered intensity after completion of the crystallization process, and the width of the Bragg peaks are found to be strongly dependent on the concentration of the initially metastable colloidal fluid. Assuming a simple crystal geometry, quantities such as the size of the crystallites, the number concentration of the crystallites, and nucleation and crystallite growth rates, as functions of the concentration, are calculated from these experimental quantities.