(304d) Analysis of Nucleation Rate Measurements in Precipitation of Silver Nanoparticles

The nucleation rate of silver particles produced by the reduction of a silver-EDA complex with ascorbic acid is studied. The experimental system consists of a rapid mixing stopped flow reactor with a high resolution diode array for full spectra collection (UV-visible) as a function of time. The nucleation rate of silver particle is studied experimentally using plasmonic calculations. The experimental data is analyzed in terms of homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation theories. To study the possibility of mechanism switch during the particle formation process, the model and parameter identification is made by solving a hybrid dynamic optimization. In this framework, mechanism switching times are determined as a part of the solution of the optimization problem. The optimized model for nucleation is then used in a population balance model to simulate particle growth.