(115m) Single and Multi-Component Organic and Inorganic Aerosols. Effect of Particle Generation Parameters on Morphologic and Hygroscopic Properties

Despite an increase in research in the area of aerosols, there is still much unknown about the topic. The majority of ongoing studies in this area focus on different aspects of the aerosol, such as interactions with the environment, behavior under different conditions, health impacts, etc. Most of these aerosol particles are generated in laboratories with different equipment (atomizers, driers, collection/measurement systems) and under different conditions (concentrations, humidity, drying rate).

It is the purpose of this research to investigate how the conditions and equipment used in typical laboratory studies affect the morphology of the particles produced and to show how the behavior of the resulting particles is affected. We present results of experiments measuring cloud condensation nuclei activity (using CCNC), and phase state/ morphology (using AFM) of various mixtures of common organic aerosol chemical components.

Also, we have analyzed the aerosol generation process typically used in laboratory studies (atomization and drying) to determine which parameters may affect the resulting aerosol and its properties. We have studied the influence of different types of atomizes, solvents, solution concentration, drying rates, drying agents and residence times on the resulting particles.

The result indicates that the method used to generate aerosols in the laboratory can have an important effect on aerosol CCN activity, morphology and phase state.