Nucleation rate determination by a concentration pulse technique: application on ferritin crystals to show the effect of surface treatment of a substrate.

The nucleation of horse spleen ferritin (HSF) crystals on substrates was investigated using a new modification of the double pulse technique. The influence of three different structureless substrates (glass, glass covered by methyl groups and poly-L-lysin template) on the nucleation was studied. The boundaries in the phase-diagram, which separate zones of crystal nucleation and growth were obtained by keeping pH = 5.