Issue 5, 2022

Characterizing the hygroscopicity and volatility of single levitated aerosol droplets via optical tweezers-Raman spectroscopy

Abstract

The hygroscopicity and volatility of airborne particles depict the thermodynamic process of the gas-particle partition of semivolatile organic components, which then have substantial impacts on the atmospheric chemistry and lifetime of aerosols. Characterizing relevant physical and chemical parameters is the base for understanding the aerosol evolution process, analyzing evolution motivation and predicting the evolution path. In this work, we captured single levitated aerosol droplets without any contact using a self-developed aerosol optical tweezers (AOT) system, simulated the hygroscopic-volatilization thermodynamic evolution process of ambient aerosols by changing the relative humidity around the trapped droplet, and measured key thermodynamic parameters via Raman spectroscopy including the particle size, refractive index, diffusion coefficient, volatile flux, and vapor pressure. Moreover, possible phase transitions in the aerosol droplets such as glassy and gel transitions were discussed, which provided an important reference for understanding the behaviors of actual atmospheric aerosols.

Graphical abstract: Characterizing the hygroscopicity and volatility of single levitated aerosol droplets via optical tweezers-Raman spectroscopy

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
28 Qad 2022
Accepted
06 Way 2022
First published
08 Way 2022
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Environ. Sci.: Adv., 2022,1, 781-789

Characterizing the hygroscopicity and volatility of single levitated aerosol droplets via optical tweezers-Raman spectroscopy

Y. Tong, T. Fang, Z. Wu, M. Hu and A. Ye, Environ. Sci.: Adv., 2022, 1, 781 DOI: 10.1039/D2VA00175F

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements