INTERFACIAL THERMODYNAMICS OF NONCRITICAL CLUSTERS AND HOMOGENEOUS NUCLEATION IN MULTICOMPONENT SYSTEMS

Interfacial thermodynamics is extended to noncritical liquid clusters in vapor for multicomponent systems, so as to clarify the uncertainty over whether or not cluster size and cluster composition dependence of interfacial tension must be accounted for in the extremity condition of the reversible work of forming a noncritical cluster needed to derive the size and the composition of a critical nucleus. It is found that the differential of interfacial tension does not arise in the extremity condition due to the Gibbs-Duhem relation derived for a noncritical cluster in the vapor. It is found also that the value of the interfacial tension for the critical nucleus must be used even in computing the reversible work to form a noncritical cluster. This result has an important implication, through employment of the principle of detailed balance, in describing the cluster formation process.