Spinodal Decomposition
For those cases in which the molar free energy of mixing has regions of negative curvature (as in the example of the regular solution model), the mechanism by which the system decomposes into its equilibrium phases is different than the mechanism when the curvature is positive. This distinction between mechanisms when the curvature is negative (called the spinodal decomposition mechanism) when the curvature is positive (called the nucleation and growth mechanism) is important for kinetics. It will be useful to discuss the spinodal mechanism in the context of free energy curves.
Consider a part of the free energy curve where the curvature is negative: