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A purely kinetic description of the evaporation of water droplets

Journal Article · · Journal of Chemical Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0037967· OSTI ID:1767982
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2]
  1. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP)
  2. Univ. of Bristol (United Kingdom)
  3. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

The process of water evaporation, although deeply studied, does not enjoy a kinetic description that captures known physics and can be integrated with other detailed processes such as drying of catalytic membranes embedded in vapor-fed devices and chemical reactions in aerosol whose volumes are changing dynamically. In this work, we present a simple, three-step kinetic model for water evaporation that is based on theory and validated by using well-established thermodynamic models of droplet size as a function of time, temperature, and relative humidity as well as data from time-resolved measurements of evaporating droplet size. Additionally, the kinetic mechanism for evaporation is a combination of two limiting processes occurring in the highly dynamic liquid-vapor interfacial region: direct first order desorption of a single water molecule and desorption resulting from a local fluctuation, described using third order kinetics. The model reproduces data over a range of relative humidities and temperatures only if the interface that separates bulk water from gas phase water has a finite width, consistent with previous experimental and theoretical studies. The influence of droplet cooling during rapid evaporation on the kinetics is discussed; discrepancies between the various models point to the need for additional experimental data to identify their origin.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES), Chemical Sciences, Geosciences & Biosciences Division
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231; SC0004993
OSTI ID:
1767982
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1763826
Journal Information:
Journal of Chemical Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Chemical Physics Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 154; ISSN 0021-9606
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
Liquid-vapor interface
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