CLUSTER FORMATION IN HIGHLY SUPERSATURATED SOLUTION DROPLETS

Cluster formation in supersaturated aqueous solutions was investigated. In this study, single microparticles of aqueous sodium chloride and glycine solutions were suspended electrodynamically without a container in a spherical void electrodynamic levitator trap (SVELT) in a water vapor reservoir environment. Measurements of water activities were made far into the metastable zone. The dependence of the critical cluster size on concentration in the metastable region was investigated employing nucleation theory. In addition, the number average cluster size was estimated from a relationship between the diffusion coefficient and cluster size.