Articles | Volume 18, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-3249-2018
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-3249-2018
Research article
 | 
07 Mar 2018
Research article |  | 07 Mar 2018

Nighttime oxidation of surfactants at the air–water interface: effects of chain length, head group and saturation

Federica Sebastiani, Richard A. Campbell, Kunal Rastogi, and Christian Pfrang

Related authors

The lifetimes and potential change in planetary albedo owing to the oxidation of thin surfactant organic films extracted from atmospheric aerosol by hydroxyl (OH) radicals at the air–water interface of particles
Rosalie H. Shepherd, Martin D. King, Andrew D. Ward, Edward J. Stuckey, Rebecca J. L. Welbourn, Neil Brough, Adam Milsom, Christian Pfrang, and Thomas Arnold
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2569–2588, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2569-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2569-2025, 2025
Short summary
Experimental observation of the impact of nanostructure on hygroscopicity and reactivity of fatty acid atmospheric aerosol proxies
Adam Milsom, Adam M. Squires, Ben Laurence, Ben Wōden, Andrew J. Smith, Andrew D. Ward, and Christian Pfrang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13571–13586, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13571-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13571-2024, 2024
Short summary
Acoustic levitation of pollen and visualisation of hygroscopic behaviour
Sophie A. Mills, Adam Milsom, Christian Pfrang, A. Rob MacKenzie, and Francis D. Pope
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4885–4898, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4885-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4885-2023, 2023
Short summary
Technical note: In situ measurements and modelling of the oxidation kinetics in films of a cooking aerosol proxy using a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D)
Adam Milsom, Shaojun Qi, Ashmi Mishra, Thomas Berkemeier, Zhenyu Zhang, and Christian Pfrang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 10835–10843, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10835-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10835-2023, 2023
Short summary
MultilayerPy (v1.0): a Python-based framework for building, running and optimising kinetic multi-layer models of aerosols and films
Adam Milsom, Amy Lees, Adam M. Squires, and Christian Pfrang
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 7139–7151, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-7139-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-7139-2022, 2022
Short summary

Related subject area

Subject: Aerosols | Research Activity: Laboratory Studies | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Chemistry (chemical composition and reactions)
The lifetimes and potential change in planetary albedo owing to the oxidation of thin surfactant organic films extracted from atmospheric aerosol by hydroxyl (OH) radicals at the air–water interface of particles
Rosalie H. Shepherd, Martin D. King, Andrew D. Ward, Edward J. Stuckey, Rebecca J. L. Welbourn, Neil Brough, Adam Milsom, Christian Pfrang, and Thomas Arnold
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2569–2588, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2569-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2569-2025, 2025
Short summary
Exometabolomic exploration of culturable airborne microorganisms from an urban atmosphere
Rui Jin, Wei Hu, Peimin Duan, Ming Sheng, Dandan Liu, Ziye Huang, Mutong Niu, Libin Wu, Junjun Deng, and Pingqing Fu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1805–1829, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1805-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1805-2025, 2025
Short summary
Measurement Report: Changes in ammonia emissions since the 18th century in south-eastern Europe inferred from an Elbrus (Caucasus, Russia) ice-core record
Michel Legrand, Mstislav Vorobyev, Daria Bokuchava, Stanislav Kutuzov, Andreas Plach, Andreas Stohl, Alexandra Khairedinova, Vladimir Mikhalenko, Maria Vinogradova, Sabine Eckhardt, and Susanne Preunkert
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1385–1399, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1385-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1385-2025, 2025
Short summary
Atmospheric oxidation of 1,3-butadiene: influence of seed aerosol acidity and relative humidity on SOA composition and the production of air toxic compounds
Mohammed Jaoui, Klara Nestorowicz, Krzysztof J. Rudzinski, Michael Lewandowski, Tadeusz E. Kleindienst, Julio Torres, Ewa Bulska, Witold Danikiewicz, and Rafal Szmigielski
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1401–1432, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1401-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1401-2025, 2025
Short summary
Enhanced sulfate formation in mixed biomass burning and sea-salt interactions mediated by photosensitization: effects of chloride, nitrogen-containing compounds, and atmospheric aging
Rongzhi Tang, Jialiang Ma, Ruifeng Zhang, Weizhen Cui, Yuanyuan Qin, Yangxi Chu, Yiming Qin, Alexander L. Vogel, and Chak K. Chan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 425–439, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-425-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-425-2025, 2025
Short summary

Cited articles

Adams, E. and Allen, H.: Palmitic acid on salt subphases and in mixed monolayers of cerebrosides: application to atmospheric aerosol chemistry, Atmosphere-Basel, 4, 315–336, 2013.
Allan, J. D., Williams, P. I., Morgan, W. T., Martin, C. L., Flynn, M. J., Lee, J., Nemitz, E., Phillips, G. J., Gallagher, M. W., and Coe, H.: Contributions from transport, solid fuel burning and cooking to primary organic aerosols in two UK cities, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 647–668, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-647-2010, 2010.
Allodi, G.: FMINUIT – A Binding to Minuit for Matlab, Octave & Scilab.
Angus-Smyth, A., Campbell, R. A., and Bain, C. D.: Dynamic adsorption of weakly interacting polymer/surfactant mixtures at the air/water interface, Langmuir, 28, 12479–12492, 2012.
Braun, L., Uhlig, M., von Klitzing, R., and Campbell, R. A.: Polymers and surfactant at fluid interfaces studied with specular neutron reflectometry, Adv. Colloid Interfac., 247, 130–148, 2017.
Download
Short summary
We report the first kinetic study of a key atmospheric nighttime oxidant (NO3) with one-molecule thin organic layers at the air–water interface. Organic molecules were chosen to establish the impact of head group, aliphatic chain length and saturation. We show that NO3 may dominate degradation at night, retention of the organic character varies strongly and atmospheric lifetimes are longer than those determined at the interface – a key motivation for further experimental and modelling studies.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint