Combustion characteristics of water-insoluble elemental and organic carbon in size selected ambient aerosol particles

Combustion of elemental carbon (EC) and organic carbon (OC) contained in ambient aerosol matter was explored using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in combination with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). To ease identification of the particles of interest and to avoid or at least reduce interaction with simultaneously sampled inorganic oxides and salts, the approach used in this work differed in two ways from commonly applied procedures. First, rather than using a mixture of particles of vastly different sizes, as in PM10 or PM2.5, aerosol matter was collected in a 5-stage impactor. Second, the water soluble fraction of the collected matter was removed prior to analysis. Diesel soot particles, which appeared in the well-known form of chain-type aggregates, constituted the major fraction of EC. In contrast, OC containing particles were observed in a variety of shapes, including a sizable amount of bioaerosol matter appearing mostly in the size range above about 1 µm. During heating in ambient air for 1h, diesel soot particles were found to be stable up to 470°C, but complete combustion occurred in a narrow temperature interval between about 480 and 510°C. After diesel soot combustion, minute quantities of 'ash' were observed in the form of aggregated tiny particles with sizes less than 10 nm. These particles could be due to elemental or oxidic contaminants of diesel soot. Combustion of OC was observed over a wide range of temperatures, from well below 200°C to at least 500°C. Incompletely burnt bioaerosol matter was still found after heating to 600°C. The results imply that the EC fraction in aerosol matter can be overestimated significantly if the contribution of OC to a thermogram is not well separated

Dopant Spatial Distributions: Sample Independent Response Function And Maximum Entropy Reconstruction

We demonstrate the use of maximum entropy based deconvolution to reconstruct boron spatial distribution from the secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) depth profiles on a system of variously spaced boron $\delta$-layers grown in silicon. Sample independent response functions are obtained using a new method which reduces the danger of incorporating real sample behaviour in the response. Although the original profiles of different primary ion energies appear quite differently, the reconstructed distributions agree well with each other. The depth resolution in the reconstructed data is increased significantly and segregation of boron at the near surface side of the $\delta$-layers is clearly shown.Comment: 5 two-columne pages, 3 postscript figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. B1

Charge Saturation and Neutral Substitutions in Halomethanes and Their Group 14 Analogues

A computational analysis of the charge distribution in halomethanes and their heavy analogues (MH4-nXn: M= C, Si, Ge, Sn, Pb; X = F, Cl, Br, I) as a function of n uncovers a previously unidentified saturation limit for fluorides when M ≠ C. We examine the electron densities obtained at the CCSD, MP2(full), B3PW91, and HF levels of theory for 80 molecules for four different basis sets. A previously observed substituent independent charge at F in fluoromethanes is shown to be a move toward saturation that is restricted by the low polarizability of C. This limitation fades into irrelevance for the more polarizable M central atoms such that a genuine F saturation is realized in those cases. A conceptual model leads to a function of the form [qM(n) -- qM(n)] = a[χA\u27 -- χA] + b that links the electronegativities (χ) of incoming and leaving atoms (e.g., A\u27 = X and A = H for the halogenation of MH4-nXn) and the associated charge shift at M. We show that the phenomenon in which the charge at the central atom, qM, is itself independent of n (e.g., at carbon in CH4-nBrn) is best described as an “M-neutral substitution”—not saturation. Implications of the observed X saturation and M-neutral substitutions for larger organic and inorganic halogenated molecules and polymeric materials are identified

Plane and simple: planar tetracoordinate carbon centers in small moleculesw

A class of neutral 18-electron molecules with planar tetracoordinate carbon (ptC) centers is introduced. We show computationally that when n = 3 the neutral singlet molecule C(BeH)n(BH2)4-n and other isoelectronic (18-valence electron) molecules of main group elements collapse from locally tetrahedral arrangements at the C-center to (near) planar tetracoordinate structures. For C(BeH)3BH2 and C(CH3)(BH2)Li2, for example, the tetrahedral type conformation is not even a minimum on the potential energy surface at the B3PW91, MP2(full), or CCSD levels of theory. The Mg analogue C(MgH)3BH2 of the Be system also features a completely flat global minimum (with even higher energy planar minima in both cases as well). Other neutral compounds that may prefer planar geometries are apparent, and new openings for experimental investigations and theoretical analyses of planar tetracoordinate main group systems are identified. The planar conformation persists at one center in the C(BeH)3BH2 dimer, and may be identifiable in higher order clusters of ptC molecules as well

Shorter Still: Compressing C-C Single Bonds

How short can a C-C single bond get? The bonding in a set of molecules that are related structurally to previously synthesized or theoretically examined systems with short C-C bonds is investigated. According to calculations, a single C-C bond could be compressed to 1.313 A! To the best of our knowledge, this is the shortest single C-C bond reported to date. This shortening is a consequence of a change in the C-C-C bond angle, θ, to minimize strain in the cages and an effort to offset the tension in the surrounding bridges

Comparison of dust released from sanding conventional and nanoparticle-doped wall and wood coatings

Introduction of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) into traditional surface coatings (e.g., paints, lacquers, fillers) may result in new exposures to both workers and consumers and possibly also a new risk to their health. During finishing and renovation, such products may also be a substantial source of exposure to ENPs or aggregates thereof. This study investigates the particle size distributions (5.6 nm–19.8 μm) and the total number of dust particles generated during sanding of ENP-doped paints, lacquers, and fillers as compared to their conventional counterparts. In all products, the dust emissions from sanding were found to consist of five size modes: three modes under 1 μm and two modes around 1 and 2 μm. Corrected for the emission from the sanding machine, the sanding dust, was dominated by 100–300 nm size particles, whereas the mass and surface area spectra were dominated by the micrometer modes. Adding ENPs to the studied products only vaguely affected the geometric mean diameters of the particle modes in the sanding dust when compared to their reference products. However, we observed considerable differences in the number concentrations in the different size modes, but still without revealing a clear effect of ENPs on dust emissions from sanding