Line Tension Reshapes Nucleation at Surface Edges: A Generalized Theory for Nanopore Activation

TL;DR

This paper develops a generalized theory for heterogeneous nucleation at surface edges, highlighting how line tension influences nucleation energy landscapes in nanoscale confined environments, with implications for nanofluidics and crystallization.

Contribution

It introduces a new analytical model incorporating line tension effects at surface edges, extending classical nucleation theory to nanoscale geometries.

Findings

Line tension significantly alters nucleation energy barriers.

Nucleation can be controlled via pore geometry and wettability.

The model predicts tunable nucleation behaviors in confined systems.

Abstract

Heterogeneous nucleation at surface edges is pervasive across nature and industry, yet the role of line tension, arising from asymmetric capillary interactions at geometric singularities, remains poorly understood. Herein we develop a generalized nucleation theory that explicitly incorporates line tension induced by edge pinning, thereby extending classical frameworks to account for nanoscale confinement and interfacial asymmetry. Through analytical treatment of droplet formation within geometrically defined nanopores, we derive a closed-form expression for the edge-pinned line tension as a function of Laplace pressure, pore geometry, and wettability. This formulation reveals that line tension can significantly reshape the nucleation energy landscape, introducing nontrivial dependencies on contact angle and pore morphology. Our results uncover a tunable, geometry-mediated mechanism for controlling nucleation barriers, offering predictive insight into phase transitions in confined environments and suggesting new strategies for design in applications ranging from nanofluidics to crystallization control.