A Thermodynamic Model of Nucleation of p-Terphenyl Crystals with Surface Energy Anisotropy at the Liquid–Air Interface

Abstract

An analysis of the variation of Gibbs free energy ΔG upon the formation of a plane nucleus of the p-terphenyl crystal at the liquid–air interface is presented, in which the anisotropy of the surface energy of faces are considered. The values of the surface energy of faces of the p-terphenyl crystal are calculated using the OPLS atomic force field method based on structural data. Experimental data on the growth of crystals from solutions and their surface properties are used in the analysis of the model.