A statistical mechanical approach to heterogeneous nucleation

The aim of the present work is to construct a model of heterogeneous nucleation based on a statistical mechanical derivation as an alternative to the classical model based on continuum thermodynamics. The result is similar to the classical approach, but the relation to the underlying microscopic physics is clearer. In our approach, we make use of the capillarity approximation using a cluster potential energy that is independent of the position of the molecules in the cluster. The model has a qualitative agreement with the experimental results of Mahata and Alofs for the heterogeneous nucleation of water on different substrates.