Coupling between nucleation and chemical reactions and its importance in understanding the oxidation of iodine by hydrogen peroxide.

We have investigated the reaction of iodine with hydrogen peroxide coupled to gas nucleation. A step-like increase in the nucleation rate with increasing amounts of dissolved oxygen can act as a trigger for the formation of highly reactive components and complete oxidation of iodine to iodate despite the large thermodynamic barrier for the whole process. Energetic coupling of nucleation with chemical reactions is based on local redistribution of energy by collapsing unstable nuclei. The developed model correctly describes the evolution of the measured reaction parameters. It offers a conceptual improvement of formal-kinetic models by drawing attention to important contributions of physical effects to the reaction mechanism.