Field measurements of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) find significantly higher mass loads than predicted by models, sparking intense effort focused on finding additional SOA sources but leaving the fundamental assumptions used by models unchallenged. Current air-quality models use absorptive partitioning theory assuming SOA particles are liquid droplets, forming instantaneous reversible equilibrium with gas phase. Further, they ignore the effects of adsorption of spectator organic species during SOA formation on SOA properties and fate. Using accurate and highly sensitive experimental approach for studying evaporation kinetics of size-selected single SOA particles, we characterized room-temperature evaporation kinetics of laboratory-generated α-pinene SOA and ambient atmospheric SOA. We found that even when gas phase organics are removed, it takes ∼24 h for pure α-pinene SOA particles to evaporate 75% of their mass, which is in sharp contrast to the ∼10 min time scale predicted by current kinetic models. Adsorption of “spectator” organic vapors during SOA formation, and aging of these coated SOA particles, dramatically reduced the evaporation rate, and in some cases nearly stopped it. Ambient SOA was found to exhibit evaporation behavior very similar to that of laboratory-generated coated and aged SOA. For all cases studied in this work, SOA evaporation behavior is nearly size-independent and does not follow the evaporation kinetics of liquid droplets, in sharp contrast with model assumptions. The findings about SOA phase, evaporation rates, and the importance of spectator gases and aging all indicate that there is need to reformulate the way SOA formation and evaporation are treated by models.

Primary organic aerosol (POA) and associated vapors can play an important role in determining the formation and properties of secondary organic aerosol (SOA). If SOA and POA are miscible, POA will significantly enhance SOA formation and some POA vapor will incorporate into SOA particles. When the two are not miscible, condensation of SOA on POA particles forms particles with complex morphology. In addition, POA vapor can adsorb to the surface of SOA particles increasing their mass and affecting their evaporation rates. To gain insight into SOA/POA interactions we present a detailed experimental investigation of the morphologies of SOA particles formed during ozonolysis of α-pinene in the presence of dioctyl phthalate (DOP) particles, serving as a simplified model of hydrophobic POA, using a single-particle mass spectrometer. Ultraviolet laser depth-profiling experiments were used to characterize two different types of mixed SOA/DOP particles: those formed by condensation of the oxidized α-pinene products on size-selected DOP particles and by condensation of DOP on size-selected α-pinene SOA particles. The results show that the hydrophilic SOA and hydrophobic DOP do not mix but instead form layered phases. In addition, an examination of homogeneously nucleated SOA particles formed in the presence of DOP vapor shows them to have an adsorbed DOP coating layer that is ∼4 nm thick and carries 12% of the particles mass. These results may have implications for SOA formation and behavior in the atmosphere, where numerous organic compounds with various volatilities and different polarities are present.

Rotationally resolved IR spectra of M+(H2O)Ar cluster ions for M=Na, K, and Cs in the O–H stretch region were measured in a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer. Analysis of the spectra yields O–H stretch vibrational band origins and relative IR intensities of the symmetric and asymmetric modes. The effect of the alkali-metal ions on these modes results in frequency shifts and intensity changes from the gas phase values of water. The A-rotational constants are also obtained from the rotational structure and are discussed. Experimentally, the temperatures of these species were deduced from the relative populations of the K-rotational states. The internal energies and temperatures of the cluster ions for Na and K were simulated using RRKM calculations and the evaporative ensemble formalism. With binding energies and vibrational frequencies obtained from ab initio calculations, the average predicted temperatures are qualitatively consistent with the experimental values and demonstrate the additional cooling resulting from argon evaporation.