Growth of Clusters through Evaporation-Condensation Processes

Abstract

The aggregation and cluster formation of initially dispersed colloidal particles is often encountered in a variety of natural and industrial processes. The precipitation near the river mouth of tiny mud particles flowing into the sea is a typical example of such a process: The aggregation of mud colloids is initiated by salt in the sea water (salting-out). This kind of process is now known to be described by diffusion-limited cluster-cluster aggregation (DLCA) Model [1,2]. In DLCA clusters move around via diffusion with appropriate mobility and stick together irreversibly upon collision to form larger clusters. Quite a few experiments have already been done to elucidate the fractal structure of aggregated clusters and dynamics of aggregation process for a variety of colloids such as gold and silica colloids, and found to be explained fairly well by DLCA [3].