Shining New Light on the Kinetics of Water Uptake by Organic Aerosol Particles

The uptake of water vapor by various organic aerosols is important in a number of applications ranging from medical delivery of pharmaceutical aerosols to cloud formation in the atmosphere. The coefficient that describes the probability that the impinging gas-phase molecule sticks to the surface of interest is called the mass accommodation coefficient, α_M. Despite the importance of this coefficient for the description of water uptake kinetics, accurate values are still lacking for many systems. In this Feature Article, we present various experimental techniques that have been evoked in the literature to study the interfacial transport of water and discuss the corresponding strengths and limitations. This includes our recently developed technique called photothermal single-particle spectroscopy (PSPS). The PSPS technique allows for a retrieval of α_M values from three independent, yet simultaneous measurements operating close to equilibrium, providing a robust assessment of interfacial mass transport. We review the currently available data for α_M for water on various organics and discuss the few studies that address the temperature and relative humidity dependence of α_M for water on organics. The knowledge of the latter, for example, is crucial to assess the water uptake kinetics of organic aerosols in the Earth's atmosphere. Finally, we argue that PSPS might also be a viable method to better restrict the α_M value for water on liquid water.

Comparison of approaches for measuring the mass accommodation coefficient for the condensation of water and sensitivities to uncertainties in thermophysical properties

We compare and contrast measurements of the mass accommodation coefficient of water on a water surface made using ensemble and single particle techniques under conditions of supersaturation and subsaturation, respectively. In particular, we consider measurements made using an expansion chamber, a continuous flow streamwise thermal gradient cloud condensation nuclei chamber, the Leipzig Aerosol Cloud Interaction Simulator, aerosol optical tweezers, and electrodynamic balances. Although this assessment is not intended to be comprehensive, these five techniques are complementary in their approach and give values that span the range from near 0.1 to 1.0 for the mass accommodation coefficient. We use the same semianalytical treatment to assess the sensitivities of the measurements made by the various techniques to thermophysical quantities (diffusion constants, thermal conductivities, saturation pressure of water, latent heat, and solution density) and experimental parameters (saturation value and temperature). This represents the first effort to assess and compare measurements made by different techniques to attempt to reduce the uncertainty in the value of the mass accommodation coefficient. Broadly, we show that the measurements are consistent within the uncertainties inherent to the thermophysical and experimental parameters and that the value of the mass accommodation coefficient should be considered to be larger than 0.5. Accurate control and measurement of the saturation ratio is shown to be critical for a successful investigation of the surface transport kinetics during condensation/evaporation. This invariably requires accurate knowledge of the partial pressure of water, the system temperature, the droplet curvature and the saturation pressure of water. Further, the importance of including and quantifying the transport of heat in interpreting droplet measurements is highlighted; the particular issues associated with interpreting measurements of condensation/evaporation rates with varying pressure are discussed, measurements that are important for resolving the relative importance of gas diffusional transport and surface kinetics.