Generality of power-law scaling of surface tension near criticality in multicomponent mixtures

Establish whether surface tension and related interfacial quantities in multicomponent phase-separating mixtures relevant to intracellular condensates generally exhibit power-law scaling with distance to a critical point, and delineate the regimes and conditions under which such scaling holds.

Background

Predicting droplet morphologies in multicomponent systems requires knowledge of interfacial parameters, including the gradient coefficients κ_ij and surface tension. The review notes that simple scaling assumptions near critical points are frequently invoked to estimate interfacial properties, but the validity of such assumptions across realistic, structured biomolecular mixtures is uncertain.

Clarifying the generality of critical scaling for interfacial quantities would improve predictive models of condensate morphology, stability, and wetting behavior in cellular contexts where interactions are structured and higher-order effects may be significant.