Nitrogen-containing Organic Carbon (NOC) is a major constituent of atmospheric aerosols and they have received significant attention in the atmospheric science community. While extensive research and advancements have been made regarding their emission sources, concentrations, and their secondary formation in the atmosphere, little is known about their water uptake efficiencies and their subsequent role in climate, air quality, and visibility. In this study, we investigated the water uptake of two sparingly soluble aromatic NOCs: o -aminophenol (oAP) and p -aminophenol (pAP) under subsaturated and supersaturated conditions using a Hygroscopicity Tandem Differential Mobility Analyzer (H-TDMA) and a Cloud Condensation Nuclei Counter (CCNC), respectively. Our results show that oAP and pAP are slightly hygroscopic with comparable hygroscopicities to various studied organic aerosols. The supersaturated single hygroscopicity parameter ( κ CCN ) was measured and reported to be 0.18 ± 0.05 for oAP and 0.04 ± 0.02 for pAP, indicating that oAP is more hygroscopic than pAP despite them having the same molecular formulae. The observed disparity in hygroscopicity is attributed to the difference in functional group locations, interactions with gas phase water molecules, and the reported bulk water solubilities of the NOC. Under subsaturated conditions, both oAP and pAP aerosols showed size dependent water uptake. Both species demonstrated growth at smaller dry particle sizes, and shrinkage at larger dry particle sizes. The measured growth factor ( G f ) range, at RH = 85%, for oAP was 1.60–0.74 and for pAP was 1.53–0.74 with increasing particle size. The growth and shrinkage dichotomy is attributed to morphological particle differences verified by TEM images of small and large particles. Subsequently, aerosol physicochemical properties must be considered to properly predict the droplet growth of NOC aerosols in the atmosphere.
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Hygroscopicity of polycatechol and polyguaiacol secondary organic aerosol in sub- and supersaturated water vapor environments
Polycatechol and polyguaiacol are light-absorbing and water-insoluble particles that efficiently form from iron-catalyzed reactions with aromatic compounds from biomass burning emissions. Little quantitative information is known about their water uptake and cloud or haze droplet formation ability. In this study, polycatechol and polyguaiacol particles were synthesized in the laboratory, and their cloud condensation nucleation efficiencies were investigated under sub- and supersaturated relative humidity (RH) conditions using a hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyzer (H-TDMA) and a cloud condensation nuclei counter (CCNC), respectively. Experimental results show that both polymeric materials are slightly hygroscopic and that their single hygroscopicity parameter ( κ ) ranges from 0.03 to 0.25, which is within the κ range for secondary organic aerosols (SOA). Polycatechol is more hygroscopic than polyguaiacol, which is explained by differences in their structure. Polyguaiacol has similar water uptake as other insoluble organic compounds, and droplet formation is modelled well with Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) or Frankel Hill Hershey-Adsorption Isotherm theory (FHH-AT). Both polymeric materials are not strongly surface active in range of 0.5 to 30 g L −1 , and thus differences in subsaturated and supersaturated hygroscopicity measurement are not attributed to the presence of surface-active materials. Instead, it is due to the solubility limits of both chemicals and H-TDMA being driven by water adsorption. The implications of these results are discussed in the context of aerosol–cloud interactions from the hygroscopicity of aerosols from primary and secondary sources.
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- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10312326
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Environmental Science: Atmospheres
- ISSN:
- 2634-3606
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1039/d1ea00063b
