Journal of Zhejiang University SCIENCE
(ISSN 1009-3095, Monthly)

2005   Vol. 6B   No. 8   p.705-707

On the critical radius in generalized Ostwald ripening

WANG Qin-bo^†1, ROBERT Finsy^†2, XU Hai-bo¹, LI Xi^†1

(¹Department of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China)
(²Department of Physical and Colloid Chemistry, Vrije University Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium)
^†E-mail: wang_qinbo@zju.edu.cn; Robert.Finsy@vub.ac.be; lixi@zju.edu.cn
Received May 9, 2005; revision accepted May 27, 2005

Abstract: The relation between the critical radius and the particle size distribution for generalized Ostwald type ripening processes whereby the mass transfer coefficient is modelled by a power law was derived. The critical radius is determined by the growth rate, the mass transfer coefficient and the mass balance, and is independent of whether the limiting stationary growth regime has been obtained.

Key words: Ostwald ripening, Critical radius, Particle size distribution, Power-law mass transfer coefficient
doi:10.1631/jzus.2005.B0705             CLC number: TQ026