Characterization of organic coatings on hygroscopic salt particles and their atmospheric impacts

The photooxidation of α-pinene in the presence of NO2, with and without added NaNO3 seed particles, has been studied in a large-diameter flow tube. Particles formed by homogeneous nucleation and by condensation on the pre-existing seeds were sampled at various stages of the reaction, dried using four diffusion dryers, size selected at different mobility diameters (dm) using a differential mobility analyzer (DMA), and characterized with a single particle mass spectrometer (SPLAT II). It was found that homogeneously nucleated particles are spherical, have a density (ρ) of 1.25 ± 0.02 g cm−3 (±2σ) and contain a significant amount of organic nitrates. The mass spectra of the low volatility products condensed on the NaNO3 seed particles were found to be virtually the same as in the case of homogeneous nucleation. The data show that the presence of even a submonolayer of organics on the NaNO3 particles causes water retention that leads to a decrease in particle density and that the amount of water retained increases with organic coating thickness. Thicker coatings appear to inhibit water evaporation from the particle seeds altogether. This suggests that in the atmosphere, where low volatility organics are plentiful, some hygroscopic salts will retain water and have different densities and refractive indices than expected in the absence of the organic coating. This water retention combined with the organic shell on the particles can potentially impact light scattering by these particles and activity as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), as well as heterogeneous chemistry and photochemistry on the particles.