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Title: Hygroscopic growth and cloud droplet activation of xanthan gum as a proxy for marine hydrogels: HYGROSCOPICITY OF XG AS MARINE HYDROGEL

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2016jd025143· OSTI ID:1532984

Knowledge of the physical characteristics and chemical composition of marine organic aerosols is needed for the quantification of their effects on cloud microphysical processes and solar radiative transfer. Here we use xanthan gum (XG)—a bacterial biopolymer—as a proxy for marine hydrogels. Measurements were performed for pure XG particles and mixtures of XG with sodium chloride, calcium nitrate, and calcium carbonate. The aerosol hygroscopicity parameter (κ) is derived from hygroscopic growth factor measurements (κgf) at variable water activity (aw) and from cloud condensation nuclei activation efficiency (κccn). The Zdanovskii, Stokes, and Robinson (ZSR) hygroscopicity parameter derived for multicomponent systems (κmix, sol) is used to compare measurements of κgf and κccn. Pure XG shows close agreement of κgf (at aw = 0.9) and κccn of 0.09 and 0.10, respectively. Adding salts to the system results in deviations of κgf (at aw = 0.9) from κccn. The measured κgf and ZSR-derived hygroscopicity parameter (κmix, sol) values for different solutions show close agreement at aw > 0.9, while κgf is lower in comparison to κmix, sol at aw < 0.9. The differences between predicted κmix, sol and measured κgf and κccn values are explained by the effects of hydration and presence of salt ions on the structure of the polymer networks. Results from this study imply that at supersaturations of 0.1 and 0.5%, the presence of 30% sea salt by mass can reduce the activation diameter of pure primary marine organic aerosols from 257 to 156 nm and from 87 to 53 nm, respectively.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0010470
OSTI ID:
1532984
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 121, Issue 19; ISSN 2169-897X
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 18 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (6)

Hygroscopicity‐ and Size‐Resolved Measurements of Submicron Aerosol on the East Coast of the United States journal February 2018
Evaluating Uncertainties in Marine Biogeochemical Models: Benchmarking Aerosol Precursors journal May 2018
Summertime Primary and Secondary Contributions to Southern Ocean Cloud Condensation Nuclei journal September 2018
Continuous flow hygroscopicity-resolved relaxed eddy accumulation (Hy-Res REA) method of measuring size-resolved sodium chloride particle fluxes journal January 2018
Continuous flow Hygroscopicity-Resolved Relaxed Eddy Accumulation (Hy-Res REA) method of measuring size-resolved sodium chloride particle fluxes text January 2018
Continuous flow hygroscopicity-resolved relaxed eddy accumulation (Hy-Res REA) method of measuring size-resolved sodium chloride particle fluxes text January 2018