A KINETIC APPROACH TO CRYSTALLIZATION FROM IONIC SOLUTION .2. CRYSTAL NUCLEATION

A novel theory to describe the kinetics of homogeneous nucleation of crystals from ionic solution has been developed. The theory separates those aspects of the nucleation process that are inherently kinetic from those that are inherently thermodynamic. The supposition that an expression for the crystal nucleation rate can be adopted 'by analogy' to vapor condensation is unnecessary in this theory and is shown to be incorrect. In order to compare experimental data on the total number of particles after a rapid precipitation with our rate expression, we have used a computer model which combines the present theory for nucleation, the theory for crystal growth developed in the previous paper with the concept of Ostwald ripening, and a population balance model. Good agreement between the model predictions and the experimental results is obtained.