Condensation of Supersaturated Vapors on Benzene Ions Generated by Resonant Two-Photon Ionization: A New Technique for Ion Nucleation

Nucleation of Water and Methanol Droplets on Cations and Anions: The Sign Preference

“…In this Letter, we report computer simulation results of barrier to the cation-and anion-induced water and methanol condensation in the absence of an external electric field. We note that for methanol experimentally measured rates of ion-induced nucleation have been reported [13].…”

“…However, the asymmetry between water-positive-ion and waternegative-ion interactions can lead to ion-sign preference in condensation of water. This phenomenon is known as the sign preference [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13].…”

“…To date, the existence (or disappearance) of the sign preference in the condensation of water without the presence of an external electric field is still not fully confirmed (see Ref. [13]). …”

Effects of external electric field on the interfacial properties of weakly dipolar fluid

“…Examples include ion-induced nucleation [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] and nucleation in a uniform electric field. [11][12][13][14][15][16] The classical theory of nucleation predicts that the barrier height to nucleation is proportional to the cube of the surface tension in the absence of electric field.…”

Effect of an Electric Field on the Surface Tension of a Dipolar-Quadrupolar Fluid and Its Implication for Sign Preference in Droplet Nucleation

“…Ample evidences from experiments (e.g., cloud chamber experiments) and computer simulations indicate that the rate of droplet formation on charged condensation centers depends on the sign of the charge, a phenomenon known as the sign preference in ion-induced heterogeneous nucleation [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. For example, water droplets nucleate faster on a negative ion (anion preference), whereas methanol droplets nucleate faster on a positive ion (cation preference), provided the magnitude of all charges are identical.…”