Research
Unlike the air/water interface, which has been studied for centuries, liquid-liquid interfaces in phase separated atmospheric aerosol particles have only been recently understood to exist at all. We seek to apply interfacial spectroscopic techniques to characterize the structure and composition of this fascinating and impactful new (to science!) chemical system.
We are intrigued by recent reports of greatly accelerated reaction rate constants in microdroplets, presumed to be caused by the unique chemical environment of the air/water interface. We are interested in developing and applying in situ spectroscopic techniques to directly measure the various factors hypothesized to lead to these enhancements, including partial desolvation, surface charge, and interfacial preferential orientation.
We are interested in how the molecular scale structure, composition, and reactivity investigated in our other research thrusts ultimately lead to macroscopic particle properties such as phase separated morphology, viscosity/diffusivity, pH, and more! We are continuously seeking to develop in situ spectroscopic techniques to directly measure these properties of interest in real time and under atmospherically realistic conditions.