Critical Comparison of Droplet Models in Homogeneous Nucleation Theory

Abstract

We review the droplet models commonly used in calculations of the rate of homogeneous nucleation from the vapor. A statistical mechanical framework is used to form a common basis for comparison of the models. The asymptotic models (Capillarity, Tolman, and higher order models) and the semiphenomenological models introduced by A. Dillmann and G. E. A. Meier (1991) (J. Chem. Phys.94, 3872) are shown to be consistent with the statistical mechanical approach. The Lothe/Pound (J. Lothe and G. M. Pound (1962), J. Chem. Phys.36, 2080) formalism overcounts the degrees of freedom for a cluster and is therefore inconsistent. The self-consistency correction is shown to be an arbitrary method for handling a truncation error.

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