Document type
ArticleVersion
Published versionPublication date
All rights reserved
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/67221
Communication: Tolman length and rigidity constants of water and their role in nucleation
Journal Title
Director/Tutor
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Related resource
Abstract
A proper understanding of nucleation is crucial in several natural and industrial processes. However, accurate quantitative predictions of this phenomenon have not been possible. The most popular tool for calculating nucleation rates, classical nucleation theory (CNT), deviates by orders of magnitude from experiments for most substances. We investigate whether part of this discrepancy can be accounted for by the curvature-dependence of the surface tension. To that end, we evaluate the eading order corrections for water, the Tolman length and the rigidity constants, using square gradient theory coupled with the accurate cubic plus association equation of state. The Helfrich expansion is then used to incorporate them into the CNT-framework. For water condensation, the modified framework successfully corrects the erroneous temperature dependence of the nucleation rates given by the classical theory and reproduces experimental nucleation rates.
Subject
Subject (English)
Citation
Citation
WILHELMSEN, Øivind, BEDEAUX, Dick and REGUERA, D. (David). Communication: Tolman length and rigidity constants of water and their role in nucleation. Journal of Chemical Physics. 2015. Vol. 142, num. 171103-1-171103-10. ISSN 0021-9606. [consulted: 12 of June of 2026]. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/67221