Application of binary homogeneous nucleation theory to the generation of liquid aerosols from water vapor with a highly dilute reactant

Abstract

The modified Reiss theory of binary homogeneous nucleation is applied to liquid aerosols of highly diluted composition in the approximation of a weak solution. In the framework of the weak solution model, the size, composition and formation free energy of the critical nucleus is calculated analytically, explicitly demonstrating the decrease in critical humidity in the presence of the second component, revealed in the numerical calculations from the literature. On this base, the nucleation rate is calculated using the Reiss kinetic theory in two different cases of humidity below and above 100%. Various modifications of the Reiss theory in the limit of a low content of the second component proposed in the literature are critically analyzed and contradicted.

Copyright © 2024 American Association for Aerosol Research

Editor:

• Jim Smith

Acknowledgements

The author thanks Dr. V. Tarasov (IBRAE, Moscow) for careful reading of the manuscript and valuable recommendations.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.