Issue 28, 2013

Evaporation kinetics of aqueous acetic acid droplets: effects of soluble organic aerosol components on the mechanism of water evaporation

Abstract

The presence of organic surfactants in atmospheric aerosol may lead to a depression of cloud droplet growth and evaporation rates affecting the radiative properties and lifetime of clouds. Both the magnitude and mechanism of this effect, however, remain poorly constrained. We have used Raman thermometry measurements of freely evaporating micro-droplets to determine evaporation coefficients for several concentrations of acetic acid, which is ubiquitous in atmospheric aerosol and has been shown to adsorb strongly to the air–water interface. We find no suppression of the evaporation kinetics over the concentration range studied (1–5 M). The evaporation coefficient determined for 2 M acetic acid is 0.53 ± 0.12, indistinguishable from that of pure water (0.62 ± 0.09).

Graphical abstract: Evaporation kinetics of aqueous acetic acid droplets: effects of soluble organic aerosol components on the mechanism of water evaporation

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
15 Mar 2013
Accepted
03 May 2013
First published
07 May 2013

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2013,15, 11634-11639

Evaporation kinetics of aqueous acetic acid droplets: effects of soluble organic aerosol components on the mechanism of water evaporation

K. C. Duffey, O. Shih, N. L. Wong, W. S. Drisdell, R. J. Saykally and R. C. Cohen, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2013, 15, 11634 DOI: 10.1039/C3CP51148K

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, 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 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