Influence of primary-particle density in the morphology of agglomerates

Abstract

Agglomeration processes occur in many different realms of science, such as colloid and aerosol formation or formation of bacterial colonies. We study the influence of primary-particle density in agglomerate structures using diffusion-controlled Monte Carlo simulations with realistic space scales through different regimes (diffusion-limited aggregation and diffusion-limited colloid aggregation). The equivalence of Monte Carlo time steps to real time scales is given by Hirsch's hydrodynamical theory of Brownian motion. Agglomerate behavior at different time stages of the simulations suggests that three indices (the fractal exponent, the coordination number, and the eccentricity index) characterize agglomerate geometry. Using these indices, we have found that the initial density of primary particles greatly influences the final structure of the agglomerate, as observed in recent experimental works.