Influence of the surface morphology of soot particles on their growth kinetics: A molecular dynamics study

As a soot particle grows, it undergoes a number of significant morphological changes (called aging), which lead to a decrease in reactivity of the particle surface. This work uses reactive molecular dynamics to study the interaction between acetylene molecules in the gas phase and the surface of soot particles of varying degrees of maturity. It is demonstrated that the branched morphology of “young” soot particles and the presence of nanosized voids on their surface can be another effect that has a significant impact on the higher reactivity of soot particles.