Crystallization is the process of atoms or molecules forming an organized solid via nucleation and growth. Being intrinsically stochastic, the research at an atomistic level has been a huge experimental challenge. We report herein in situ detection of a crystal nucleus forming during nucleation/growth of a NaCl nanocrystal, as video recorded in the interior of a vibrating conical carbon nanotube at 20−40 ms frame −1 with localization precision of <0.1 nm. We saw NaCl units assembled to form a cluster fluctuating between featureless and semiordered states, which suddenly formed a crystal. Subsequent crystal growth at 298 K and shrinkage at 473 K took place also in a stochastic manner. Productive contributions of the graphitic surface and its mechanical vibration have been experimentally indicated.

Many chemical reactions go through a cascade of events in which a series of metastable intermediates appear, and crystal nucleation is no exception. Although the consensus on the energetics of nucleation suggests the formation of metastable states preceding the crystal growth, little experimental evidence has been reported for their dynamics at an atomistic level. Operando imaging of two-dimensional nucleation on a defect-free NaCl nanocrystal in carbon nanotubes using a millisecond angstrom-resolution transmission electron microscope revealed the formation of a metastable “floating island” (FI) that migrates thermally on the (100) facet of NaCl as the first intermediate of epitaxy. The speed of the migration at 298 K is estimated to be larger than 0.3 nm ms–1. When a crystal tumbles in a container, a space repeatedly forms between the crystal and the container wall that hosts the FI. Tumbling changes the surface energy repeatedly and promotes the conversion of the FI into a new epitaxial layer. We anticipate that this surface catalysis mechanism found on the nanoscale also operates in bulk heterogeneous nucleation where agitation and attrition accelerate crystallization.

Recent studies have investigated the efficacy of air-cleaning products against pathogens in the air. A standard method to evaluate the reduction in airborne viruses caused by an air cleaner has been established using a safe bacteriophage instead of pathogenic viruses; the reduction in airborne viruses is determined by counting the number of viable airborne phages by culture, after operating the air cleaner. The reduction in the number of viable airborne phages could be because of "physical decrease" or "inactivation". Therefore, to understand the mechanism of reduction correctly, an analysis is required to distinguish between physical decrease and inactivation. The purpose of this study was to design an analysis to distinguish between the physical decrease and inactivation of viable phi-X174 phages in aerosols. We established a suitable polymerase chain reaction PCR system by selecting an appropriate primer-probe set for PCR and validating the sensitivity, linearity, and specificity of the primer-probe set to robustly quantify phi-X174-specific airborne particles. Using this quantitative PCR system and culture assay, we performed a behavior analysis of the phage aerosol in a small chamber 1 m 3 at different levels of humidity, as humidity is known to affect the number of viable airborne phages. The results revealed that the reduction in the number of viable airborne phages was caused not only by physical decrease but also by inactivation under particular levels of humidity. Our study could provide an advanced analysis to differentiate between the physical decrease and inactivation of viable airborne phages.