The effect of particle size and nitric acid uptake on the homogeneous freezing of aqueous sulfuric acid particles

2000 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 1111-1114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Azadeh Tabazadeh ◽  
Scot T. Martin ◽  
Jin-Sheng Lin
2016 ◽  
Vol 690 ◽  
pp. 236-239
Author(s):  
Oratai Jongprateep ◽  
Rachata Puranasamriddhi

High photocatalytic activity of nanoparticulate titanium dioxide has attracted worldwide attention. Synthesis techniques of the nanoparticles, however, often require high energy supply or costly initial reagents. Solution combustion technique is an energy-effective technique capable of synthesizing nanosized titanium powders. This research aimed at utilizing a less expensive initial reagent in synthesis of nanoparticulate titanium dioxide by the solution combustion technique. The research also examined effects of dissolving agents on chemical composition and particle sizes of the synthesized powders. A low-cost initial reagent, titanium dioxide with average particle size of 154 nanometers, was dissolved in sulfuric acid or dispersed in nitric acid prior to the combustion. Experimental results revealed that the pure anatase phase titanium dioxide was successfully obtained in powders prepared from both sulfuric acid and nitric acid. The average particle size of the powder prepared from sulfuric acid was 77 nanometers, while that of the powder prepared from nitric acid was 117 nanometers. The difference in particle sizes was attributed to solubility of the initial reagent in the acid. Complete solution of initial reagent in sulfuric acid was the main factor attributed to finer particle size.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (18) ◽  
pp. 14403-14425
Author(s):  
Julia Schneider ◽  
Kristina Höhler ◽  
Robert Wagner ◽  
Harald Saathoff ◽  
Martin Schnaiter ◽  
...  

Abstract. Homogeneous freezing of aqueous solution aerosol particles is an important process for cloud ice formation in the upper troposphere. There the air temperature is low, the ice supersaturation can be high and the concentration of ice-nucleating particles is too low to initiate and dominate cirrus cloud formation by heterogeneous ice nucleation processes. The most common description to quantify homogeneous freezing processes is based on the water activity criterion (WAC) as proposed by Koop et al. (2000). The WAC describes the homogeneous nucleation rate coefficients only as a function of the water activity, which makes this approach well applicable in numerical models. In this study, we investigate the homogeneous freezing behavior of aqueous sulfuric acid aerosol particles by means of a comprehensive collection of laboratory-based homogeneous freezing experiments conducted at the AIDA (Aerosol Interaction and Dynamics in the Atmosphere) cloud simulation chamber, which were conducted as part of 17 measurement campaigns since 2007. The most recent experiments were conducted during October 2020 with special emphasis on temperatures below 200 K. Aqueous sulfuric acid aerosol particles of high purity were generated by particle nucleation in a gas flow composed of clean synthetic air and sulfuric acid vapor, which was added to the AIDA chamber. The resulting chamber aerosol had number concentrations from 30 cm−3 up to several thousand per cubic centimeter with particle diameters ranging from about 30 nm to 1.1 µm. Homogeneous freezing of the aerosol particles was measured at simulated cirrus formation conditions in a wide range of temperatures between 185 and 230 K with a steady increase of relative humidity during each experiment. At temperatures between about 205 K and about 230 K, the AIDA results agree well with the WAC-based predictions of homogeneous freezing onsets. At lower temperatures, however, the AIDA results show an increasing deviation from the WAC-based predictions towards higher freezing onsets. For temperatures between 185 and 205 K, the WAC-based ice saturation ratios for homogeneous freezing onsets increase from about 1.6 to 1.7, whereas the AIDA measurements show an increase from about 1.7 to 2.0 in the same temperature range. Based on the experimental results of our direct measurements, we suggest a new fit line to formulate the onset conditions of homogeneous freezing of sulfuric acid aerosol particles as an isoline for nucleation rate coefficients between 5×108 and 1013 cm−3 s−1. The potential significant impacts of the higher homogeneous freezing thresholds, as directly observed in the AIDA experiments under simulated cirrus formation conditions, on the model prediction of cirrus cloud occurrence and related cloud radiative effects are discussed.


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