Crystallization of glass-forming liquids: Maxima of nucleation, growth, and overall crystallization rates

Crystallization in glass-forming liquids: Effects of fragility and glass transition temperature

“…In a preceding analysis [18], we derived conditions for the location and magnitudes of the maximum crystal nucleation, growth, and overall crystallization rates. The main equations employed in the analysis and the results are briefly summarized in the present section as the basis for the analysis of possible interrelations between crystallization intensity, fragility, and reduced glass transition temperature.…”

“…In the resolution of the problem, which parameters determine the rate of crystallization, in particular, the temperatures and magnitudes of the maxima of nucleation, growth, and overall crystallization rates and the parameters affecting them must be known. For that purpose, in a preceding paper [18] general relations for the specification of locations and magnitudes of these maxima have been derived. This analysis was performed in terms of the classical theory of nucleation and growth without introducing additional assumptions for the derivation of the general relations.…”

“…Only for analytical estimates and numerical computations, commonly employed models for the specification of the thermodynamic properties of the crystallites are utilized. These theoretical predictions have been applied successfully in [18] for an interpretation of a variety of crystal nucleation and growth experiments.…”

“…Based on the theoretical results derived in [18], in the present paper we analyze whether, why, and how the locations and magnitudes of the maximum rates of nucleation, growth, and overall crystallization are correlated with certain properties of liquids, such as the reduced glass transition temperature [5][6][7][8][9]11] and fragility index [10,[12][13][14][15][16][17]. In this analysis, we demonstrate that classical fragility can be relevant for the understanding of the crystallization behavior only if several severe conditions are fulfilled that are rarely met.…”

“…The paper is structured as follows: In Section 2, basic relations derived in [18] allowing one to determine the temperatures and magnitudes of the maximum nucleation, growth, and overall crystallization rates are summarized. Based on these results, correlations between the reduced glass transition temperature, fragility, and crystal nucleation and growth kinetics are established and analyzed in Section 3.…”