Sarah J. Hanna

Images reveal that atmospheric particles can undergo liquid–liquid phase separations

A large fraction of submicron atmospheric aerosol particles contains both organic material and inorganic salts. As the relative humidity cycles in the atmosphere and the water content of the particles correspondingly changes, these mixed particles can undergo a range of phase transitions, possibly including liquid–liquid phase separation. If liquid–liquid phase separation occurs, the gas-particle partitioning of atmospheric semivolatile organic compounds, the scattering and absorption of solar radiation, and the reactive uptake of gas species on atmospheric particles may be affected, with important implications for climate predictions. The actual occurrence of liquid–liquid phase separation within individual atmospheric particles has been considered uncertain, in large part because of the absence of observations for real-world samples. Here, using optical and fluorescence microscopy, we present images that show the coexistence of two noncrystalline phases for real-world samples collected on multiple days in Atlanta, GA as well as for laboratory-generated samples under simulated atmospheric conditions. These results reveal that atmospheric particles can undergo liquid–liquid phase separations. To explore the implications of these findings, we carried out simulations of the Atlanta urban environment and found that liquid–liquid phase separation can result in increased concentrations of gas-phase NO3 and N2O5 due to decreased particle uptake of N2O5.

A study of oleic acid and 2,4-DHB acid aerosols using an IR-VUV-ITMS: insights into the strengths and weaknesses of the technique

An investigation of oleic acid and 2,4-dihydroxybenzoic (DHB) acid aerosols was carried out using an aerosol mass spectrometer with pulsed lasers for vaporization and ionization and an ion trap for mass analysis. The extent of ion fragmentation was studied as a function of both vaporization energy and ionization wavelength. Low CO2 laser energies in the vaporization stage and near-threshold single photon ionization resulted in the least fragmented mass spectra. For DHB, only the molecular ion was observed, but for oleic acid fragmentation could not be eliminated. Tandem MS of the main fragment peak from oleic acid was carried out and provided a tool for compound identification. Photoionization efficiency curves were also collected for both DHB and oleic acid and the appearance energies of both parent and fragment ions were measured. Evidence for fragmentation occurring post-ionization is given by the similar appearance energies for both the parent and fragment ions. The results from this study were compared with those from similar experiments undertaken with time-of-flight (TOF) mass analyzers. The degree of fragmentation in the ion trap was considerably higher than that seen with TOF systems, particularly for oleic acid. This was attributed to the long storage interval in the ion trap which allows time for metastable ions to decay. Differences in the degree of fragmentation between the ion trap and TOF studies also provided further evidence for fragmentation occurring post-ionization. For 2,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid, the long delay prior to mass analysis also allowed time for reactions with background gases, in this case water, to occur.

Studies of one and two component aerosols using IR/VUV single particle mass spectrometry: Insights into the vaporization process and quantitative limitations

This paper presents the studies of one and two component particles using a CO(2) laser for vaporization and VUV ionization in an ion trap mass spectrometer. The degree of fragmentation for a one component system was demonstrated to be a function of CO(2) laser energy. In a two component system, the degree of fragmentation was shown to be a function of the particle composition. This observation indicates that the analysis of mixed particles may be far more complicated than anticipated for a two step process with soft vaporization. In addition to showing that fragmentation is a function of CO(2) laser energy and particle composition, we also show that a key parameter that determines the extent of fragmentation is the energy absorbed by the particle during desorption. The ionization delay profile in a one component system is also shown to be strongly dependent on the vaporization energy. In a two component system, the delay profile is shown to strongly depend on the composition of the particle. The combined data suggest that the key parameter that governs the delay profile is the energy absorbed by the particle during desorption. This finding has implications for potential field measurements. Finally, for a two component system where the absorption crosssections are different, the change in the degree of fragmentation with particle composition resulted in a non-linear dependence of ion signal on composition. This makes any attempt at quantification difficult.

Size-resolved mixing state of black carbon in the Canadian high Arctic and implications for simulated direct radiative effect

Transport of anthropogenic aerosol into the Arctic in the spring months has the potential to affect regional climate; however, modeling estimates of the aerosol direct radiative effect (DRE) are sensitive to uncertainties in the mixing state of black carbon (BC). A common approach in previous modeling studies is to assume an entirely external mixture (all primarily 15 scattering species are in separate particles from BC) or internal mixture (all primarily scattering species are mixed in the same particles as BC). To provide constraints on the size-resolved mixing state of BC, we use airborne Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) and Ultra-High Sensitivity Aerosol Spectrometer (UHSAS) measurements from the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) POLAR6 flights from the NETCARE/PAMARCMIP2015 campaign to estimate coating thickness as a function of refractory BC (rBC) core diameter as well as the fraction of particles containing rBC in the springtime Canadian 20 high Arctic. For rBC core diameters in the range of 140 to 220 nm, we find average coating thicknesses of approximately 45 to 40 nm, respectively, resulting in ratios of total particle diameter to rBC core diameters ranging from 1.6 to 1.4. For total particle diameters ranging from 175 to 730 nm, rBC-containing particle number fractions range from 16 to 3%, respectively. We combine the observed mixing-state constraints with simulated size-resolved aerosol mass and number distributions from GEOS-Chem-TOMAS to estimate the DRE with observed bounds on mixing state as opposed to assuming an entirely 25 external or internal mixture. We find that the pan-Arctic average springtime DRE ranges from -1.65 W m to -1.34 W m when assuming entirely externally or internally mixed BC. Using the observed mixing-state constraints, we find the DRE is 0.05 W m and 0.19 W m less negative than the external mixing-state assumption when constraining by coating thickness of the mixed particles and by BC-containing particle number fraction, respectively. The difference between these methods is due to an underestimation of BC mass fraction in the springtime Arctic in GEOS-Chem-TOMAS compared to POLAR6 30 observations. Measurements of mixing state provide important constraints for model estimates of DRE. Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2018-171 Manuscript under review for journal Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discussion started: 19 February 2018 c

Revisiting properties and concentrations of ice nucleating particles inthe sea surface microlayer and bulk seawater in the Canadian Arcticduring summer

Despite growing evidence that the ocean is an important source of ice nucleating particles (INPs) in the atmosphere, our understanding of the properties and concentrations of INPs in ocean surface waters remain limited. We have 15 investigated the properties and concentrations of INPs in sea surface microlayer and bulk seawater samples collected in the Canadian Arctic during the summer of 2016. We observed that 1) INPs were ubiquitous in the microlayer and bulk waters; 2) heat and filtration treatments reduced INP activity, indicating that the INPs were likely heat-labile biological materials between 0.2 and 0.02 μm in diameter; 3) there was a strong negative correlation between salinity and freezing temperatures, possibly due to INPs associated with melting sea ice; and 4) concentrations of INPs could not be explained by satellite20 derived chlorophyll a concentrations. Although the spatial patterns of INPs and salinities were similar in 2014 and 2016, we did observe some differences between the years, notably: 1) the concentrations of INPs were higher on average in 2016 compared to 2014; and 2) INP concentrations were enhanced in the microlayer compared to bulk seawater in several samples collected in 2016, which was not the case in 2014.