A linearized integral model for determining the nucleation parameters from metastable zone width data

By incorporating the combined effect of nucleation and growth rates on the crystallite size distribution, a linearized integral model was proposed in this work according to classical nucleation theory to determine the nucleation parameters from the metastable zone width (MSZW). Instead of the nucleation pre-exponential factor, the combined constant of nucleation and growth was introduced to account for the combined effect of nucleation and growth rates crystallite size distribution at the nucleation point. From the MSZW data of aqueous L-glycine solutions at different cooling rates for various initial saturation temperatures, the values of the interfacial energy and the combined constant of nucleation and growth were determined and discussed by using the proposed model in this work, as well as various models reported in the literature. The results indicated that the proposed model in this work leads to a lower value of the interfacial energy and a poorer fit of the data than those by the classical 3D nucleation theory approach.