Evolution of nanoclusters at the coagulation of supersaturated solutions, a computer study

Molecular dynamics is used to investigate the coagulation of the precipitates in a supersaturated binary solution and its dependence on the thermodynamic properties of the system, concentration and temperature. Lennard–Jones potentials with different parameters for different pairs of atoms are employed. Coagulation proceeds by gradual growth of clusters and is not a thermally activated process. The rate of coagulation depends weakly on temperature. Solute clusters are initially amorphous and crystallize in the stable face-centered cubic structure only after reaching a specific size.