Organic films at the gas-aerosol interface

COLL 282

V. Faye McNeill, vfmcneill@columbia.edu1, Michael R. Giordano1, and Joel Thornton, thornton@atmos.washington.edu2. (1) Department of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, 500 W. 120th St. Room 816, New York, NY 10027, (2) Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, 408 ATG Building, Seattle, WA 98195
Internal mixtures of inorganic and organic material are typical of tropospheric aerosols, and surface-active organics are a common component of the organic fraction. Surface-active molecules may partition to the gas-aerosol interface of aqueous particles, lowering the surface tension and creating an organic surface layer. We have shown that submonolayer films of expanded-state surfactants can significantly suppress the reactive uptake of N2O5 by submicron aqueous aerosols. We also used aerosol flow tube reactors with chemical ionization mass spectrometry detection of the gas and particle phases in order to assess the lifetimes of such films when subject to oxidation by O3 and OH in the atmosphere, along with the gas-particle partitioning of the oxidation products. Finally, we will discuss results from recent ellipsometry studies of the surface-bulk partitioning of organic material in systems approaching the complexity of internally mixed aerosols in the atmosphere.