Dense Liquid Precursor in Mineral Crystallization: Spinodal Morphology and High Viscosity Evidenced by Electron Imaging.

Recent consensus suggests that the classical single-step nucleation theory, a key reference for nanomaterial synthesis, inadequately explains nanocrystal formation in solutions, as it ignores noncrystalline intermediate structures. Among these, reactant-rich liquid nanostructures have gained attention for their potential to differentiate between crystallization theories. However, capturing their physical properties at the nanometer scale before crystallization remains challenging.