Chemical reactions in microdroplets and microbubbles. Thermodynamic approach

In small dispersed systems, the standard chemical potential of the components present in the curved phases is different from the one in phases with a flat interface. Thermodynamic properties of reactions in such systems, at mechanical equilibrium, may be different from those for the same reactions at the same temperature, in a phase with zero curvature. Among these properties, we study here the dependence of die equilibrium constant on the curvature, on the surface tension and on the stoichiometry of the process. Reactions in an electric field are also discussed. (C) 1999 Academie des sciences / Editions scientifiques er medicales Elsevier SAS.