Universality in diffusion-controlled nucleation and growth

2024/09/27 by Alexei V. Tkachenko, Tkachenko, Alexei V.
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Materials Science · #FOS: Physical sciences #Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) #Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft) #Solidification and crystal growth phenomena #Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech) #nanoparticles nucleation surface interactions

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2409.19163

openalex publication_date 2024/09/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31

Abstract

Nucleation and growth is studied in a system undergoing diffusion-controlled condensation under gradual changes in parameters, such as cooling. It is demonstrated that when Gibbs-Thompson effect becomes negligible, the system falls into a universal regime. i.e. the final droplet size distribution remains invariant under certain rescaling of system parameters. An approximate yet very accurate analytic form is obtained for the size distribution function in this regime.

Related

• Universal scaling law for quantum droplet formation
• Power-law setting of steady concentration in a binary solution within a droplet at diffusion-controlled or free-molecular regimes of the droplet binary growth in the vapor-gas environment
• Nonclassical condensation pathways revealed by the multivariable theory of nucleation
• Kinetics of nucleation under the break of the blow-up growth
• Homogeneous nucleation and growth of droplets in vapours