Shining new light on the kinetics of water uptake by organic aerosol particles
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Date
2021-05-06
Publication Type
Journal Article
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yes
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Abstract
The uptake of water vapor by various organic aerosols is important in a number of applications ranging from medical delivery of pharmaceutical aerosols to cloud formation in the atmosphere. The coefficient that describes the probability that the impinging gas-phase molecule sticks to the surface of interest is called the mass accommodation coefficient, αM. Despite the importance of this coefficient for the description of water uptake kinetics, accurate values are still lacking for many systems. In this Feature Article, we present various experimental techniques that have been evoked in the literature to study the interfacial transport of water and discuss the corresponding strengths and limitations. This includes our recently developed technique called photothermal single-particle spectroscopy (PSPS). The PSPS technique allows for a retrieval of αM values from three independent, yet simultaneous measurements operating close to equilibrium, providing a robust assessment of interfacial mass transport. We review the currently available data for αM for water on various organics and discuss the few studies that address the temperature and relative humidity dependence of αM for water on organics. The knowledge of the latter, for example, is crucial to assess the water uptake kinetics of organic aerosols in the Earth's atmosphere. Finally, we argue that PSPS might also be a viable method to better restrict the αM value for water on liquid water.
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published
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Journal / series
Volume
125 (17)
Pages / Article No.
3528 - 3548
Publisher
American Chemical Society
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Organisational unit
03961 - Signorell, Ruth / Signorell, Ruth
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Funding
177479 - Fundamentals of Aerosol Photoacoustic Spectroscopy (SNF)
172472 - Phase Transitions of Ultrafine Aerosol Particles: Condensation, Freezing, and Metal Formation in Confined Systems (SNF)
ETH-42 18-1 - A new single-droplet approach to the determination of evaporation coefficients (ETHZ)
172472 - Phase Transitions of Ultrafine Aerosol Particles: Condensation, Freezing, and Metal Formation in Confined Systems (SNF)
ETH-42 18-1 - A new single-droplet approach to the determination of evaporation coefficients (ETHZ)
Related publications and datasets
Is supplemented by: https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000443481