Abstract
A variety of crystal structures is found in nature, not only equilibrium structures reflecting molecular structures, but also non-equilibrium structures which depend on the physicochemical conditions occurring during the crystal growth. In this paper, we focus on the dendrite structure of sodium chloride (NaCl) formed by the simple evaporation of an aqueous NaCl solution. The characteristics of the growth structures were measured as a function of the initial concentration of NaCl. In addition, the crystal growth process was measured using optical microscopy. As a result, the growth rate was not constant but was found to oscillate over time and synchronize with the wetting of the crystal. Our observations indicate that dendrite structures are more easily generated at higher initial concentrations. The detailed mechanism for dendrite pattern formation is still under investigation.
Highlights
The variety of crystalline structures reflects the molecular structures and types of chemical bonds
Other examples are dendrites such as copper dendrites [4] and the electrochemical deposition of zinc [5,6,7]. The formation of these dendrite patterns is understood in terms of diffusionlimited aggregation [8] and recently several works have succeeded in reproducing such pattern formations numerically [9,10]
We focus on the dendrite structure of a sodium chloride (NaCl) crystal
Summary
The variety of crystalline structures reflects the molecular structures and types of chemical bonds. On the other hand, when crystals form under a far-from-equilibrium condition, their structure depends on the energy loss, and on the dynamics of crystal growth. In the latter case, the shape of crystals can be dramatically different from those obtained at equilibrium. The dendrite growth of a salt crystal surface [11,12,13,14], lifting up of the crystal with the evaporation of a NaCl aqueous solution [15], and an upward crystal growth on walls [16] have been reported. We suggest a preliminary mexepaslaunreadtiothnefofrratchtaelgdriomwetnhsiporno[c4e]s.sBoafsNedaoCnl doeunrdorbisteesrv. ations, we suggest a preliminary explanation for the growth process of NaCl dendrites
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