Effect of Impurities on the Nucleation of ADP from Aqueous Solution

The nucleation study has been made with the saturated solution of Ammonium dihydrogen orthophosphate over the temperature range 25–40 °C. In the absence of impurities, classical nucleation theory predicts rates reasonably well only at the expense of some adjustable parameters like surface energy term. This has been attributed to the difficulties associated with the application of equilibrium thermodynamics to a process of kinetic origin. The presence of soluble impurities reduces the solubility and hence decreases the induction period. In our present work the amount of soluble impurity added has influenced the induction period. Actvation energies and surface free energies were determined for ADP solution relative to the impurities.