Thermodynamic Reasons of Agglomeration of Dust Particles in the Thermal Dusty Plasma

Abstract

The thermodynamic equilibrium of thermal dusty plasmas consisting of ionized gas (plasma) and solid particles (dust grains), which interact with each other, is studied. The tendency of grains in dusty plasmas to agglomerate corresponds to the tendency of dusty plasmas to balanced states. When grains agglomerate, electrical perturbations generated by each grain concentrate inside the agglomerate. The plasma is perturbed only by the agglomerate's exterior surface. The greater number of possible states for electrons and ions in plasma depends on the volume of perturbation of grains. The fewer are the perturbations the greater is the amount of possible states for electrons and ions in plasma. If the grains collected from a distance smaller than 8 Debye lengths, the total volume of perturbations is minimized; the free energy of the plasma is also minimized.

Formation of Particles in Welding Fume Plasmas: Numerical Modeling and Experiment

“…The large number density of nuclei ∼ 10 15 -10 16 cm −3 (see Fig. 2, b) causes their intense Brownian collisions and the coagulation, because it has a thermodynamic cause [35]. Since the nuclei are in the liquid state, their coagulation is a coalescence.…”

Microparticle separation in a linear Paul trap

“…Separation of polydispersed powders into fractions is an important problem for different applications. Monodispersed powders are used, for example, in research of dusty plasma [1][2][3], in particle image velocimetry methods for determining the velocity of liquids and gases [4], in nanotechnology [5]. Monodisperse aerosols are used in studies of Coulomb clusters [6].…”