2011/04/29 by Lorin Matthews, L. S. Matthews, Victor Land +3 · 1 citation
Chemistry · Physics and Astronomy · #Aggregate (composite) #Astro and Planetary Science #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Chemical engineering #Chemistry #Cluster (spacecraft) #Coagulation #Compact space #Dust and Plasma Wave Phenomena #Economies of agglomeration #Materials science #Nanotechnology #Particle (ecology) #Physics #Plasma #physics.plasm-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/744/1/8
arxiv created 2011/04/29 · openalex publication_date 2011/12/07 · arxiv updated 2015/05/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Combining a particle–particle, particle–cluster, and cluster–cluster agglomeration model with an aggregate charging model, the coagulation and charging of dust particles in plasma environments relevant for protoplanetary disks have been investigated, including the effect of electron depletion in high dust density environments. The results show that charged aggregates tend to grow by adding small particles and clusters to larger particles and clusters, and that cluster–cluster aggregation is significantly more effective than particle–cluster aggregation. Comparisons of the grain structure show that with increasing aggregate charge the compactness factor, ϕ σ , decreases and has a narrower distribution, indicating a fluffier structure. Neutral aggregates are more compact, with larger ϕ σ , and exhibit a larger variation in fluffiness. Overall, increased aggregate charge leads to larger, fluffier, and more massive aggregates.