Nucleation in confined space: Application to the crystallization in gels

The increase of the threshold for crystallization in gels, compared to that in pure solutions, is interpreted as resulting from the nucleation in small isolated volumes. The depletion of the solution inside those volumes can result in an absolute ‘nucleation limit”, the experimental determination of which allows to calculate activation energies for nucleation (and interfacial tensions crystal-solution) independetly of the value of the pre-exponential factor entering the nucleation rate equation. The feasibility and the advantages of droplet experiments (crystallization in dispersed solutions) are discussed.