Why formation rate of 3 nm particles depends linearly on sulphuric acid concentration?

According to atmospheric observations new particle formation seems to be a function of sulphuric acid concentration to the power from one to two. The nucleation theorem then predicts that the critical cluster contains one to two sulphuric acid molecules. However, existing nucleation theories predict...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAtmospheric chemistry and physics discussions Vol. 5; no. 6; pp. 11277 - 11293
Main Authors Kulmala, M, Lehtinen, KEJ, Laaksonen, A
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published European Geosciences Union 08.11.2005
Subjects
Ocean, Atmosphere
Sciences of the Universe
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Summary:According to atmospheric observations new particle formation seems to be a function of sulphuric acid concentration to the power from one to two. The nucleation theorem then predicts that the critical cluster contains one to two sulphuric acid molecules. However, existing nucleation theories predicts that the power is more (or equal) than 2. Here we present an activation theory, which can explain the observed slope. In cluster activation the clusters containing one sulphuric acid molecule will activate for further growth due to heterogeneous nucleation, heterogeneous chemical reactions including polymerization or activation of soluble clusters. In the activation process organic vapours are typically needed as condensing agents.
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ISSN:1680-7367
1680-7375