Effect of cluster scavenging on homogeneous nucleation

A closed‐form expression for the effect of cluster scavenging on the rate of homogeneous nucleation of a vapor in the presence of continuum regime particles is obtained by solving the kinetic equation of nucleation by the method of singular perturbation. The reduction in nucleation rate of a condensing species at a given supersaturation is shown to be dependent largely on the number concentration, the size of the sink particles, and the molecular number concentration of the background gas. The reduction in the rate of nucleation due to the cluster scavenging by transition regime particles is also discussed