The Effect of Temperature on Nucleation of Condensed Water Phase on the Surface of a β-AgI Crystal. 1. Structure

Abstract

The Monte Carlo method has been employed to study the effect of temperature on the structure and the mechanism of retaining condensed water phase nuclei on the surface of the basal face of a silver iodide crystal. Comparative calculations of spatial correlation functions and computer images of vapors being condensed at 260 and 320 K have indicated an increased stability of monomolecular water-film spots with respect to thermal fluctuations. The disturbances of the regular “honeycomb” structure have a collective character and occur according to the “domino principle”; i.e., the rupture of a hydrogen bond between neighboring molecules releases enhanced libration motions of the latter, which, in turn, provoke the rupture of bonds with other neighbors. In accordance with this scenario, the distortion of the hexagonal structure of the film under the action of thermal fluctuations develops with the formation of growing spots of destruction. The thermal fluctuations significantly affect the orientational molecular order and the degree of clustering on the surface. The positions of molecules relative to the ions of the surface crystallographic layer of a substrate weakly depend on temperature.