Local overheating near the interface of a growing droplet may lead to a dec
rease in the rate of droplet growth if the heat conductivity is sufficientl
y small. Moreover, this rate may even change sign, so that droplets of radi
us larger than a critical radius will shrink. The existence of a thermal ba
th with hear loss through thermal dissipation narrows the range of existenc
e of this phenomenon. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.