Solute-adsorption enhanced heterogeneous nucleation: the effect of Cu adsorption on α-Al nucleation at the sapphire substrate.

Interfacial adsorption of solute atoms is a promising means to tune heterogeneous nucleation. In this study, a new method has been established to theoretically evaluate the effect of solute addition on the nucleation potency of heterogeneous nucleation interfaces. The evaluation consists of three steps: (1) analyzing the solute adsorption behavior; (2) determining the nucleation mode; and (3) evaluating the effect of solute adsorption on nucleation potency using the solute-adsorbed interface model.