Crystals Formed at 293 K by Aqueous Sulfate−Nitrate−Ammonium−Proton Aerosol Particles

Prediction of Phase State of Secondary Organic Aerosol Internally Mixed with Aqueous Inorganic Salts

In the presence of inorganic salts, secondary organic aerosol (SOA) undergoes liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS), liquid-solid phase separation, or a homogeneous phase in ambient air. In this study, a regression model was derived to predict aerosol phase separation relative humidity (SRH) for various organic and inorganic mixes. The model implemented organic physicochemical parameters (i.e., oxygen to carbon ratio, molecular weight, and hydrogen-bonding ability) and the parameters related to inorganic compositions (i.e., ammonium, sulfate, nitrate, and water). The aerosol phase data were observed using an optical microscope and also collected from the literature. The crystallization of aerosols at the effloresce RH (ERH) was semiempirically predicted with a neural network model. Overall, the greater SRH appeared for the organic compounds with the lower oxygen to carbon ratios or the greater molecular weight and the higher aerosol acidity or the larger fraction of inorganic nitrate led to the lower SRH. The resulting model has been demonstrated for three different chamber-generated SOA (originated from β-pinene, toluene, and 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene), which were internally mixed with the inorganic aqueous system of ammonium-sulfate-water. For all three SOA systems, both observations and model predictions showed LLPS at RH <80%. In the urban atmosphere, LLPS is likely a frequent occurrence for the typical anthropogenic SOA, which originates from aromatic and alkane hydrocarbon.

Hygroscopic behavior and fractional crystallization of mixed (NH4)2SO4/glutaric acid aerosols by vacuum FTIR

The hygroscopicity and phase transition of the mixed aerosol particles are significantly dependent upon relative humidity (RH) and interactions between particle components. Although the efflorescence behavior of particles has been studied widely, the crystallization behavior of each component in the particles is still poorly understood. Here, we study the hygroscopicity and crystallization behaviors of internally mixed ammonium sulfate (AS)/glutaric acid (GA) aerosols by a vacuum FTIR spectrometer coupled with a RH-controlling system. The mixed AS/GA aerosols in two different RH control processes (equilibrium and RH pulsed processes) show the fractional crystallization upon dehydration with AS crystallizing prior to GA in mixed particles with varying organic to inorganic molar ratios (OIRs). The initial efflorescence relative humidity (ERH) of AS decreased from ~43% for pure AS particles to ~41%, ~36% and ~34% for mixed AS/GA particles with OIRs of 2:1, 1:1 and 1:2, respectively. Compared to the ERH of 35% for pure GA, the initial ERHs of GA in mixed AS/GA particles were determined to be 31%, 30% and 28% for OIRs of 2:1, 1:1 and 1:2, respectively, indicating that the presence of AS decreased the crystallization RH of GA instead of inducing the heterogeneous nucleation of GA. When the AS fractions first crystallized at around 36% RH in the 1:1 mixed particles, GA remained noncrystalline until 30% RH. For the first time, the crystallization ratios of AS and GA are obtained for the internally mixed particles during the rapid downward RH pulsed process. The crystallization ratio of AS can reach around 100% at around 24% RH for both pure AS and the 1:1 mixed particles, consistent with the equilibrium RH process. It is clear that the RH downward rate did not influence efflorescence behavior of AS in pure AS and AS in mixed particles. In contrast, the crystallization ratio of GA can reach about 90% at 15.4% RH for pure GA particles in excellent agreement with the equilibrium RH process, whereas it is only up to 50% at 16.0% RH in the 1:1 mixed particles during the rapid downward pulsed process lower than that of the equilibrium RH process. Our results reveal that the rapid RH downward rate could inhibit the efflorescence of GA in the mixed droplets.

The Hydropathy Scale as a Gauge of Hygroscopicity in Sub-Micron Sodium Chloride-Amino Acid Aerosols

Sodium chloride, NaCl, is commonly used as a proxy for sea spray aerosols. However, field work has demonstrated that sea spray aerosols also often contain a significant organic component. In this work, we examine the effect of amino acids on the hygroscopic properties of NaCl aerosols using a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer coupled to a flow-cell apparatus. It is found that the effect can be drastically different depending on the nature of the amino acid. More hydrophilic amino acids such as glycine lead to continuous hygroscopic growth of internally mixed NaCl-amino acid aerosols generated from an equimolar precursor solution. However, more hydrophobic amino acids such as alanine do not significantly alter the hygroscopicity of NaCl aerosols. The hydropathy scale is found to be a good qualitative diagnostic for the effect that an amino acid will have on the hygroscopicity of NaCl.

Temperature-dependent deliquescent and efflorescent properties of methanesulfonate sodium studied by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy

Modeling of aerosols and cloud formation processes in the marine boundary layer (MBL) require extensive data on hygroscopic properties of relevant methanesulfonate particles, which are currently scarce. In this work, methanesulfonate sodium (CH3SO3Na, MSA-Na), the most abundant methanesulfonate salt, was selected, and its deliquescent and efflorescent properties at temperatures relevant to the lower troposphere were studied using an ATR-FTIR flow system. To validate the approach, we investigated hygroscopic properties of NaCl particles, and our measured deliquescent relative humidity (DRH) and efflorescent relative humidity (ERH) of the NaCl particles obtained from the changes in integrated absorbance of water peaks in infrared spectra agreed with literature data well. We then reported DRH and ERH of MSA-Na particles as a function of temperature for the first time using both the changes in integrated absorbance of water peaks and the changes in peak position and shape of CH3SO3(-) symmetric and asymmetric vibrational modes. Our experiments showed that MSA-Na particles present quite different temperature-dependent hygroscopic behaviors from NaCl. Both the DRH and ERH of MSA-Na particles increase with decreasing temperatures. Due to the significant differences in temperature-dependent DRH and ERH, NaCl particles, if processed in MBL by methanesulfonic acid, are expected to deliquesce slightly earlier during a hydration process but effloresce at a much earlier stage during a dehydration process, especially at lower temperatures. This could considerably influence phase, size, and water content of sea salt aerosols and consequently their reactivity, lifetime, and impacts on atmospheric chemistry and climate systems.

Structures of relevant ammonium salts in fertilizers

The crystal structures of two double salts of ammonium nitrate (AN) and ammonium sulfate (AS) are reported. The double salts 2NH4NO3·(NH4)2SO4 (2AN·AS) and 3NH4NO3·(NH4)2SO4 (3AN·AS) show a very similar crystal structure packing with alternating layers of anions and cations. The solid-state ionic distribution is controlled by an extensive hydrogen-bonding network with ammonium groups as the donors and O atoms acting as the acceptors. Crystallographic studies were conducted at both room temperature (293 K) and 100 K. Increasing the temperature involves shortening the b axis in the case of the 3AN·AS salt. Quantification of fertilizer mixtures using the Rietveld method was also carried out by means of the structural models reported in this paper for both salts.

Formation and transformation of metastable double salts from the crystallization of mixed ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulfate particles

Ammonium nitrate (AN) and ammonium sulfate (AS) are ubiquitous components of atmospheric aerosols. Thermodynamic models predict formation of pure (AN and AS) and double salts (3AN. AS and 2AN. AS) for the AN/AS system. Because of the high supersaturation at which a droplet crystallizes, metastable crystal formation is possible. In this study, the identity of the crystals formed from the crystallization of equimolar AN/AS mixed droplets was investigated in an electrodynamic balance coupled with a Raman spectroscopic system. Raman spectra of bulk AN/AS double salts possibly formed in this system are first reported for comparison with the single particle Raman results. The double-salt 3AN. AS, not predicted from thermodynamics, was observed in the freshly crystallized single particles. The degree of metastability can be different among several crystallization processes of the same particles. The metastable salt 3AN. AS gradually transformed into stable 2AN. AS, and the rate of such transformation increased with increasing relative humidity. This study illustrates the possibility of occurrence of metastable salts in atmospheric aerosols.

Efflorescence Relative Humidity of Mixed Sodium Chloride and Sodium Sulfate Particles

We study the efflorescence relative humidity (ERH) of particles composed of sodium chloride and sodium sulfate. Both experimental and theoretical investigations are conducted to explore the effects of particle size and mixing ratios between two inorganic materials on ERH. A previously developed theoretical model (Gao et al. J. Phys. Chem. A 2006, 110, 7602; ref 1) is applied as the framework to build a formulation assuming that one salt nucleates much faster than the other, and the critical nuclei formation of the former controls the rate of efflorescence. The predicted ERHs agree favorably with the experimental data, except for particles containing Na2SO4 in a mole fraction of around 0.25. At this composition, our model underestimates the ERH, indicating certain factors involved in the efflorescent processes that are overlooked in our formulation. Relative to particles larger than 40 nm, the Kelvin effect more significantly affects particles smaller than this size.

Crystallization of Aqueous Inorganic−Malonic Acid Particles: Nucleation Rates, Dependence on Size, and Dependence on the Ammonium-to-Sulfate Ratio

Using an electrodynamic balance, we determined the relative humidity (RH) at which aqueous inorganic-malonic acid particles crystallized, with ammonium sulfate ((NH(4))(2)SO(4)), letovicite ((NH(4))(3)H(SO(4))(2)), or ammonium bisulfate (NH(4)HSO(4)) as the inorganic component. The results for (NH(4))(2)SO(4)-malonic acid particles and (NH(4))(3)H(SO(4))(2)-malonic acid particles show that malonic acid decreases the crystallization RH of the inorganic particles by less than 7% RH when the dry malonic acid mole fraction is less than 0.25. At a dry malonic acid mole fraction of about 0.5, the presence of malonic acid can decrease the crystallization RH of the inorganic particles by up to 35% RH. For the NH(4)HSO(4)-malonic acid particles, the presence of malonic acid does not significantly modify the crystallization RH of the inorganic particles for the entire range of dry malonic acid mole fractions studied; in all cases, either the particles did not crystallize or the crystallization RH was close to 0% RH. Size dependent measurements show that the crystallization RH of aqueous (NH(4))(2)SO(4) particles is not a strong function of particle volume. However, for aqueous (NH(4))(2)SO(4)-malonic acid particles (with dry malonic acid mole fraction = 0.36), the crystallization RH is a stronger function of particle volume, with the crystallization RH decreasing by 6 +/- 3% RH when the particle volume decreases by an order of magnitude. To our knowledge, these are the first size dependent measurements of the crystallization RH of atmospherically relevant inorganic-organic particles. These results suggest that for certain organic mole fractions the particle size and observation time need to be considered when extrapolating laboratory crystallization results to atmospheric scenarios. For aqueous (NH(4))(2)SO(4) particles, the homogeneous nucleation rate data are a strong function of RH, but for aqueous (NH(4))(2)SO(4)-malonic acid particles (with dry organic mole fraction = 0.36), the rates are not as dependent on RH. The homogeneous nucleation rates for aqueous (NH(4))(2)SO(4) particles were parametrized using classical nucleation theory, and from this analysis we determined that the interfacial surface tension between the crystalline ammonium sulfate critical nucleus and an aqueous ammonium sulfate solution is between 0.053 and 0.070 J m(-2).

Efflorescence Relative Humidity for Ammonium Sulfate Particles

The classical homogeneous nucleation theory was employed to calculate the efflorescence relative humidity (ERH) of airborne ammonium sulfate particles with a wide size range (8 nm to 17 microm) at room temperature. The theoretical predictions are in good agreement with the experimentally measured values. When the ammonium sulfate particle is decreased in size, the ERH first decreases, reaches a minimum around 30% for particle diameter equal to about 30 nm, and then increases. It is for the first time that the Kelvin effect is theoretically verified to substantially affect the ERH of ammonium sulfate particles smaller than 30 nm, while the aerosol size is the dominant factor affecting the efflorescent behavior of ammonium sulfate particles larger than 50 nm.

Ammonium Bisulfate/Water: A Pseudobinary System

We have studied the ammonium bisulfate/water system using thermal analysis (differential scanning calorimetry) and infrared spectroscopy of thin films. Our results for the melting points for ice and letovicite are in good agreement with other experimental work. However, we report here the first measurements of the ice/ammonium bisulfate/letovicite invariant point. We have used our observations and solubility data to construct a complete phase diagram for this system. Utilizing phase diagram theory and the Gibbs phase rule, we conclude that this system is not a true binary system but rather a pseudobinary system, which has a range of concentrations that cannot be represented by a simple binary phase diagram and thus must be viewed as part of the ternary system: H(2)SO(4)/(NH(4))(2)SO(4)/H(2)O. We also compared our results to the phase diagram predictions of the aerosol inorganics model and found the predicted melting points are in good agreement with experimental work over a limited concentration range, but the transitions predicted by the model at lower temperatures are not in agreement with experimental results.

Phase Changes during Hygroscopic Cycles of Mixed Organic/Inorganic Model Systems of Tropospheric Aerosols

A correct description of the aerosol's phases is required to determine its gas/particle partitioning, its reactivity and its water uptake and release. In this study, we investigate organic/electrolyte interactions of ammonium sulfate, nitrate and sodium chloride with substances containing carboxylic acids (COOH) and hydroxyl (OH) functional groups. As organic model compounds, we chose polyols with different OH/CHn (n = 0-3) ratios-namely, glycerol, 1,4-butanediol, and 1,2-hexanediol-as well as PEG 400 and a mixture of dicarboxylic acids consisting of malic, malonic, maleic, glutaric, and methylsuccinic acid. Bulk solubility and water activity measurements of these model systems together with a survey of literature data showed that NaCl is a salting-out agent for alcohols and organic acids whereas ammonium nitrate and sulfate exhibited salting-in and salting-out tendencies depending on the nature and number of functional groups as well as on the concentration of the solution. All investigated salts induce a liquid-liquid phase separation in the 1,2-hexanediol/water system. Considering the composition of the tropospheric aerosol, such phase separations might indeed occur frequently when particles in the atmosphere are exposed to varying relative humidity. To complement the bulk experiments, we investigated single particles consisting of ammonium sulfate and dicarboxylic acids as well as of ammonium sulfate and PEG 400 in an electrodynamic balance. Whereas the relative humidities of total deliquescence as well as the water uptake and release of the fully deliquesced particles are in good agreement with the bulk results and represent thermodynamic equilibrium, the water uptake before full deliquescence shows significant deviations. These deviations may be caused by morphological effects.

Crystallization Pathways of Sulfate−Nitrate−Ammonium Aerosol Particles

Crystallization experiments are conducted for aerosol particles composed of aqueous mixtures of (NH(4))(2)SO(4)(aq) and NH(4)NO(3)(aq), (NH(4))(2)SO(4)(aq) and NH(4)HSO(4)(aq), and NH(4)NO(3)(aq) and NH(4)HSO(4)(aq). Depending on the aqueous composition, crystals of (NH(4))(2)SO(4)(s), (NH(4))(3)H(SO(4))(2)(s), NH(4)HSO(4)(s), NH(4)NO(3)(s), 2NH(4)NO(3) x (NH(4))(2)SO(4)(s), and 3NH(4)NO(3) x (NH(4))(2)SO(4)(s) are formed. Although particles of NH(4)NO(3)(aq) and NH(4)HSO(4)(aq) do not crystallize even at 1% relative humidity, additions of 0.05 mol fraction SO(4)(2-)(aq) or NO(3)(-)(aq) ions promote crystallization, respectively. 2NH(4)NO(3) x (NH(4))(2)SO(4)(s) and (NH(4))(3)H(SO(4))(2)(s) appear to serve as good heterogeneous nuclei for NH(4)NO(3)(s) and NH(4)HSO(4)(s), respectively. 2NH(4)NO(3) x (NH(4))(2)SO(4)(s) crystallizes over a greater range of aqueous compositions than 3NH(4)NO(3) x (NH(4))(2)SO(4)(s). An infrared aerosol spectrum is provided for each solid based upon a linear decomposition analysis of the recorded spectra. Small nonzero residuals occur in the analysis because aerosol spectra depend on particle morphology, which changes slightly across the range of compositions studied. In addition, several of the mixed compositions crystallize with residual aqueous water of up to 5% particle mass. We attribute this water content to enclosed water pockets. The results provide further insights into the nonlinear crystallization pathways of sulfate-nitrate-ammonium aerosol particles.

FTIR spectroscopic investigations of supersaturated NaClO4 aerosols

Supersaturated NaClO4 aerosols have been studied using a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer coupled with an aerosol flow tube (AFT). Compared with previous Raman results, the water O-H stretching envelope in the supersaturated solutions of NaClO4 aerosols was more structured in response to changing RH, revealing at the same time the existence of water monomers weakly hydrogen-bonded with ClO4- at extremely high concentrations. Due to enhanced ion interactions in the supersaturated solutions of NaClO4 aerosols, the formation of contact ion pairs (CIPs) could be observed without component decomposition for the nondegenerate nu1 band of ClO4-, and the degenerate nu3 band of ClO4- was successfully related to the formation of CIPs in NaClO4 solutions. Based on these observations, a new mechanism featured by the attack of ClO4- upon hydrated Na+ for CIPs formation in the supersaturated solutions of NaClO4 aerosols was further proposed. The anhydrous NaClO4, characterized by the upper limit deliquescence relative humidity (DRH) of approximately 43% and the disappearance of the nu1 band of ClO4- in the infrared spectra, was observed to form on the silicon windows at low RHs.