Spatially Mapping Heterogeneous Nucleation Kinetics of Silver Nanocrystals with Liquid Cell Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy

Nucleation is ubiquitous during liquid phase crystallization processes, both in natural and synthetic systems Except for very clean systems, nucleation is almost always heterogeneous because the presence of a solid interface significantly decreases the free energy barrier to nucleation The free energy barrier for a given heterogeneous nucleation site depends sensitively on the local surface topography and surface chemistry (e.g. functional groups). The identity and kinetics of nucleation at heterogeneous nucleation sites on a liquid-solid interface remains elusive because it is challenging to determine the free energy barrier for a given nucleation site with high spatial resolution.