Nonisothermal nucleation in the gas phase is driven by cool subcritical clusters.

ABSTRACT: Nucleation of clusters from the gas phase is a widely encountered phenomenon, yet rather little is understood about the underlying out-of-equilibrium dynamics of this process. The classical view of nucleation assumes isothermal conditions where the nucleating clusters are in thermal equilibrium with their surroundings. However, in all first-order phase transitions, latent heat is released, potentially heating the clusters and suppressing the nucleation. The question of how the released energy affects cluster temperatures during nucleation as well as the growth rate remains controversial. To investigate the nonisothermal dynamics and energetics of homogeneous nucleation, we have performed molecular dynamics simulations of a supersaturated vapor in the presence of thermalizing carrier gas. T

SUBMITTER: Tikkanen V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9282380 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature