Time-Resolved Measurements of the Evaporation of Volatile Components from Single Aerosol Droplets

摘要

A strategy for examining the dynamic hygroscopic response of single aerosol particles is reported, allowing a direct investigation of the interplay of thermodynamic and kinetic factors regulating the time dependence of particle size. In particular, we investigate the rapid evaporation of water from water-glycerol droplets, measuring the evolving size with a time resolution of 2 s. The time-dependent measurements of evolving droplet size are compared with an analytical treatment of the evaporation process. Excellent agreement between measurements and simulations is found over a wide range of starting droplet compositions. The benefits of using this approach for investigating water transport within the bulk of an aerosol particle or to/from the droplet surface are discussed.