Nucleation of ethanol, propanol, butanol, and pentanol: a systematic experimental study along the homologous series

Manka, AA; Wedekind, J; Ghosh, D; Höhler, K; Wölk, J; Strey, R

HERO ID

1454729

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year

2012

Language

English

PMID

22894357

HERO ID 1454729
In Press No
Year 2012
Title Nucleation of ethanol, propanol, butanol, and pentanol: a systematic experimental study along the homologous series
Authors Manka, AA; Wedekind, J; Ghosh, D; Höhler, K; Wölk, J; Strey, R
Journal Journal of Chemical Physics
Volume 137
Issue 5
Page Numbers 054316
Abstract We present homogeneous vapor-liquid nucleation rates of the 1-alcohols (C(n)H(2n+1)OH, n = 2-4) measured in the well-established two-valve nucleation pulse chamber as well as in a novel one-piston nucleation pulse chamber at temperatures between 235 and 265 K. The nucleation rates and critical cluster sizes show a very systematic behavior with respect to the hydrocarbon chain length of the alcohol, just as their thermo-physical parameters such as surface tension, vapor pressure, and density would suggest. For all alcohols, except ethanol, predictions of classical nucleation theory lie several orders of magnitude below the experimental results and show a strong temperature-dependence typically found in nucleation experiments. The more recent Reguera-Reiss theory [J. Phys. Chem. B 108(51), 19831 (2004)] achieves reasonably good predictions for 1-propanol, 1-butanol, and 1-pentanol, and independent of the temperature. Ethanol, however, clearly shows the influence of strong association between molecules even in the vapor phase. We also scaled all experimental results with classic nucleation theory to compare our data with other data from the literature. We find the same overall temperature trend for all measurement series together but inverted and inconsistent temperature trends for individual 1-propanol and 1-butanol measurements in other devices. Overall, our data establishe a comprehensive and reliable data set that forms an ideal basis for comparison with nucleation theory.
Doi 10.1063/1.4739096
Pmid 22894357
Is Certified Translation No
Dupe Override No
Is Public Yes
Language Text English