Articles | Volume 16, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-135-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-135-2016
Research article
 | 
15 Jan 2016
Research article |  | 15 Jan 2016

An adsorption theory of heterogeneous nucleation of water vapour on nanoparticles

A. Laaksonen and J. Malila

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Cited articles

Adamson, A. W., and Gast, A. P.: Physical Chemistry of Surfaces, Wiley, New York, USA, p. 625, 1997.
Chen, C.-C. and Cheng, H.-C.: Effects of charge and size on condensation of supersaturated water vapor on nanoparticles of SiO2, J. Chem. Phys., 126, 034701, https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2424707, 2007.
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Chen, C.-C., Guo, M.-S., Tsai, Y.-J., and Huang, C.-C.: Heterogeneous nucleation of water vapor on submicrometer particles of SiC, SiO2, and naphthalene, J. Colloid Interf. Sci., 198, 354–367, https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1006/jcis.1997.5298, 1998.
Chen, C.-C., Huang, C.-C., and Tao, C.-J.: Heterogeneous nucleation of n-butanol vapor on submicrometer particles of SiO2 and TiO2, J. Colloid Interf. Sci., 211, 193–203, https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1006/jcis.1998.6007, 1999.
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Short summary
Heterogeneous nucleation is a phenomenon that starts the condensation of supersaturated vapours on solid surfaces. An example is the formation of cirrus clouds in the atmosphere: their formation is often triggered at relative humidities clearly above 100%. We derive a new theory that can be used to calculate the threshold supersaturation of heterogeneous nucleation of water vapour on nanoparticles and show that it performs significantly better than older theories when compared to lab experiment.
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