Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (Jan 2012)
Deposition nucleation on mineral dust particles: a case against classical nucleation theory with the assumption of a single contact angle
Abstract
Deposition nucleation on two mineral species, kaolinite and illite, was studied using a flow cell coupled to an optical microscope. The results show that the <i>S</i><sub>ice</sub> conditions when ice first nucleated, defined as the onset <i>S</i><sub>ice</sub> (<i>S</i><sub>ice,onset</sub>), is a strong function of the surface area available for nucleation, varying from 100% to 125% at temperatures between 242 and 239 K. The surface area dependent data could not be described accurately using classical nucleation theory and the assumption of a single contact angle (defined here as the single-α model). These results suggest that caution should be applied when using contact angles determined from <i>S</i><sub>ice,onset</sub> data and the single-α model. In contrast to the single-α model, the active site model, the deterministic model, and a model with a distribution of contact angles fit the data within experimental uncertainties. Parameters from the fits to the data are presented.
