Particles containing mixtures of organic material and inorganic salts represent a major class of particles in the atmosphere. As the relative humidity cycles in the atmosphere from high to low values, these particles can go through a range of phase transitions including crystallization (i.e., efflorescence), dissolution (i.e., deliquescence), and liquid-liquid phase separation. An accurate understanding of these phase transitions is required when predicting heterogeneous reactions on and in atmospheric particles. In the following we investigate liquid-liquid phase transitions of mixed organic-inorganic salt particles, and we show that for certain oxygen-to-carbon elemental ratios these phase transitions occur at relative humidities between 95 and 40%.  The new interfaces produced from these phase transitions may have an important impact on atmospheric heterogeneous chemistry.

Phase transitions of particles containing mixtures of organic and inorganic salt material

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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