Liquid-liquid phase separation and morphology of internally mixed dicarboxylic acids/ammonium sulfate/water particles

Knowledge of the physical state and morphology of internally mixed organic/inorganic aerosol particles is still largely uncertain. To obtain more detailed information on liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) and morphology of the particles, we investigated complex mixtures of atmospherically relevant dicarboxylic acids containing 5, 6, and 7 carbon atoms (C5, C6 and C7) having oxygen-to-carbon atomic ratios (O:C) of 0.80, 0.67, and 0.57, respectively, mixed with ammonium sulfate (AS). With micrometer-sized particles of C5/AS/H_2O, C6/AS/H_2O and C7/AS/H_2O as model systems deposited on a hydrophobically coated substrate, laboratory experiments were conducted for various organic-to-inorganic dry mass ratios (OIR) using optical microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. When exposed to cycles of relative humidity (RH), each system showed significantly different phase transitions. While the C5/AS/H_2O particles showed no LLPS with OIR = 2:1, 1:1 and 1:4 down to 20% RH, the C6/AS/H_2O and C7/AS/H_2O particles exhibit LLPS upon drying at RH 50 to 85% and ~90%, respectively, via spinodal decomposition, growth of a second phase from the particle surface or nucleation-and-growth mechanisms depending on the OIR. This suggests that LLPS commonly occurs within the range of O:C < 0.7 in tropospheric organic/inorganic aerosols. To support the comparison and interpretation of the experimentally observed phase transitions, thermodynamic equilibrium calculations were performed with the AIOMFAC model. For the C7/AS/H_2O and C6/AS/H_2O systems, the calculated phase diagrams agree well with the observations while for the C5/AS/H_2O system LLPS is predicted by the model at RH below 60% and higher AS concentration, but was not observed in the experiments. Both core-shell structures and partially engulfed structures were observed for the investigated particles, suggesting that such morphologies might also exist in tropospheric aerosols

Vapor pressures of substituted polycarboxylic acids are much lower than previously reported

The partitioning of compounds between the aerosol and gas phase is a primary focus in the study of the formation and fate of secondary organic aerosol. We present measurements of the vapor pressure of 2-methylmalonic (isosuccinic) acid, 2-hydroxymalonic (tartronic) acid, 2-methylglutaric acid, 3-hydroxy-3-carboxy-glutaric (citric) acid and DL-2,3-dihydroxysuccinic (DL-tartaric) acid, which were obtained from the evaporation rate of supersaturated liquid particles levitated in an electrodynamic balance. Our measurements indicate that the pure component liquid vapor pressures at 298.15 K for tartronic, citric and tartaric acids are much lower than the same quantity that was derived from solid state measurements in the only other room temperature measurement of these materials (made by Booth et al., 2010). This strongly suggests that empirical correction terms in a recent vapor pressure estimation model to account for the inexplicably high vapor pressures of these and similar compounds should be revisited, and that due caution should be used when the estimated vapor pressures of these and similar compounds are used as inputs for other studies

Ultrafast demagnetization in bulk versus thin films: An ab initio study

We report on {\it ab-initio} simulations of the quantum dynamics of electronic charge and spin when subjected to intense laser pulses. By performing separate calculations for a Ni thin film and bulk Ni, we conclude that surface effects have a dramatic influence on amplifying the laser induced demagnetization. We show that the reason for this amplification is due to increased spin-currents on the surface of the thin film. This enhancement is a direct consequence of the broken symmetry originating from the surface formation. We find that the underlying physics of demagnetization, during the early femtoseconds, for both bulk and thin film is dominated by spin-flips induced by spin-orbit coupling. After the first $\sim 40$ fs this changes in that the dominant cause of demagnetization is the flow of spin-currents, which leads to stronger demagnetization in the film compared to that of the bulk.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

New and extended parameterization of the thermodynamic model AIOMFAC: calculation of activity coefficients for organic-inorganic mixtures containing carboxyl, hydroxyl, carbonyl, ether, ester, alkenyl, alkyl, and aromatic functional groups

We present a new and considerably extended parameterization of the thermodynamic activity coefficient model AIOMFAC (Aerosol Inorganic-Organic Mixtures Functional groups Activity Coefficients) at room temperature. AIOMFAC combines a Pitzer-like electrolyte solution model with a UNIFAC-based group-contribution approach and explicitly accounts for interactions between organic functional groups and inorganic ions. Such interactions constitute the salt-effect, may cause liquid-liquid phase separation, and affect the gas-particle partitioning of aerosols. The previous AIOMFAC version was parameterized for alkyl and hydroxyl functional groups of alcohols and polyols. With the goal to describe a wide variety of organic compounds found in atmospheric aerosols, we extend here the parameterization of AIOMFAC to include the functional groups carboxyl, hydroxyl, ketone, aldehyde, ether, ester, alkenyl, alkyl, aromatic carbon-alcohol, and aromatic hydrocarbon. Thermodynamic equilibrium data of organic-inorganic systems from the literature are critically assessed and complemented with new measurements to establish a comprehensive database. The database is used to determine simultaneously the AIOMFAC parameters describing interactions of organic functional groups with the ions H^+, Li^+, Na^+, K^+, NH_(4)^+, Mg^(2+), Ca^(2+), Cl^−, Br^−, NO_(3)^−, HSO_(4)^−, and SO_(4)^(2−). Detailed descriptions of different types of thermodynamic data, such as vapor-liquid, solid-liquid, and liquid-liquid equilibria, and their use for the model parameterization are provided. Issues regarding deficiencies of the database, types and uncertainties of experimental data, and limitations of the model, are discussed. The challenging parameter optimization problem is solved with a novel combination of powerful global minimization algorithms. A number of exemplary calculations for systems containing atmospherically relevant aerosol components are shown. Amongst others, we discuss aqueous mixtures of ammonium sulfate with dicarboxylic acids and with levoglucosan. Overall, the new parameterization of AIOMFAC agrees well with a large number of experimental datasets. However, due to various reasons, for certain mixtures important deviations can occur. The new parameterization makes AIOMFAC a versatile thermodynamic tool. It enables the calculation of activity coefficients of thousands of different organic compounds in organic-inorganic mixtures of numerous components. Models based on AIOMFAC can be used to compute deliquescence relative humidities, liquid-liquid phase separations, and gas-particle partitioning of multicomponent mixtures of relevance for atmospheric chemistry or in other scientific fields

Shortwave radiative impact of liquid–liquid phase separation in brown carbon aerosols

Atmospheric aerosol particles may undergo liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) when exposed to varying relative humidity. In this study, we model how the change in morphology affects the shortwave radiative forcing, in particular for particles containing organic carbon as a molecular absorber, often termed brown carbon (BrC). Preferentially, such an absorber will redistribute to the organic phase after LLPS. We limited our investigation to particle diameters between 0.04 and 0.5&thinsp;µm, atmospherically relevant organic-to-inorganic mass ratios typical for aged aerosol (1:4&lt;OIR&lt;4:1) and absorptivities ranging from zero (purely scattering) to highly absorbing brown carbon. For atmospherically relevant O&thinsp;:&thinsp;C ratios, core-shell morphology is expected for phase-separated particles. We compute the scattering and absorption cross sections for realistic eccentric core-shell morphologies. For the size range of interest here, we show that assuming the core-shell morphology to be concentric is sufficiently accurate and numerically much more efficient than averaging over eccentric morphologies. In the UV region, where BrC absorbs strongest, phase-separated particles may exhibit a scattering cross section up to 50&thinsp;% larger than those of homogenously mixed particles, while their absorption cross section is up to 20&thinsp;% smaller. Integrating over the full solar spectrum, due to the strong wavelength dependence of BrC absorptivity, limits the shortwave radiative impact of LLPS in the thin aerosol layer approximation. For particles with very substantial BrC absorption there will be a radiative forcing enhancement of 4&thinsp;%–11.8&thinsp;% depending on the Ångström exponent (AAE) of BrC absorptivity for the case of small surface albedos and a decrease of up to 18&thinsp;% for surfaces with high reflectivity. However, for those of moderate absorptivity, LLPS will have no significant shortwave radiative impact.</p