Molecular and ion organization at the surface of atmospheric aerosols derived from the sea water surface is of interest due to the potential role these aerosols have in atmospheric chemistry, cloud nucleation ability, the Earth’s radiative balance, and in processes such as thundercloud electrification. Herein, marine ions of Mg2+, Ca2+, SO42-, HSO4-, and Cl-, with and without marine relevant lipids are studied at the air/aqueous interface as proxy systems for aerosol surfaces. The ion’s influence on the organization of water, and moreover their inherent preference for surface versus bulk solvation is studied. We find that bisulfate ions prefer to be distributed below hydronium ions, but have a higher surface propensity than that of the sodium counter cation. We also find that bisulfate has similar surface propensity as the chloride ion. For the cations of magnesium and calcium, binding to surface active chemical constituents is observed preferentially to specific moieties with varied efficiencies, and with direct impact on the packing of lipids.

Surface propensity and binding of Mg2+, Ca2+, SO42-, HSO4-, and Cl- at the air/water Interface, a proxy for atmospheric aerosol surfaces

251st National Meeting (2016)

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