Journal
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
Volume 13, Issue 23, Pages 11723-11734Publisher
COPERNICUS GESELLSCHAFT MBH
DOI: 10.5194/acp-13-11723-2013
Keywords
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Funding
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
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As the relative humidity varies from high to low values in the atmosphere, particles containing organic species and inorganic salts may undergo liquid-liquid phase separation. The majority of the laboratory work on this subject has used ammonium sulfate as the inorganic salt. In the following we studied liquid-liquid phase separation in particles containing organics mixed with the following salts: ammonium sulfate, ammonium bisulfate, ammonium nitrate and sodium chloride. In each experiment one organic was mixed with one inorganic salt and the liquid-liquid phase separation relative humidity (SRH) was determined. Since we studied 23 different organics mixed with four different salts, a total of 92 different particle types were investigated. Out of the 92 types, 49 underwent liquid-liquid phase separation. For all the inorganic salts, liquid-liquid phase separation was never observed when the oxygen-to-carbon elemental ratio (O : C) >= 0.8 and was always observed for O : C < 0.5. For 0.5 <= O : C < 0.8, the results depended on the salt type. Out of the 23 organic species investigated, the SRH of 20 organics followed the trend: (NH4)(2)SO4 >= NH4HSO4 >= NaCl >= NH4NO3. This trend is consistent with previous salting out studies and the Hofmeister series. Based on the range of O : C values found in the atmosphere and the current results, liquid-liquid phase separation is likely a frequent occurrence in both marine and non-marine environments.
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