A Model of Liquid-phase Homogeneous Nucleation in a System Containing Seed Particles [Translated]†

Abstract

This paper deals with particle formation by homogeneous nucleation in a system containing seed particles. A model of homogeneous nucleation previously developed by the present authors (Kousaka and Nomura, 1997) is here extended to include the effect of the presence of seed particles. To this end, the cell model upon which the original model was based has been modified to account for the random distribution of the interparticle distances in the medium. Liquid-phase experiments, in which particles have been generated by a chemical reduction method with varying number concentrations of seed particles and generation rates of precursor monomers, have confirmed the validity of the model. The proposed model enables determination of the operating conditions where 1) homogeneous nucleation is predominant, 2) particle growth is predominant, and 3) homogeneous nucleation and particle growth coexist.† This report was originally printed in Kagaku Kogaku Ronbunshu, 23(5), 673-678 (1997) in Japanese, before being translated into English by KONA Editorial Committee with the permission of the editorial committee of the Soc. Chemical Engineers, Japan.