Articles | Volume 25, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5633-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5633-2025
Research article
 | 
06 Jun 2025
Research article |  | 06 Jun 2025

Partitioning of ionic surfactants in aerosol droplets containing glutaric acid, sodium chloride, or sea salts

Alison Bain, Kunal Ghosh, Konstantin Tumashevich, Nønne L. Prisle, and Bryan R. Bzdek

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Subject: Aerosols | Research Activity: Laboratory Studies | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Physics (physical properties and processes)
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Cited articles

Alvarez, N. J., Walker, M., and Anna, S. L.: A criterion to assess the impact of confined volumes on surfactant transport to liquid – fluid interfaces, Soft. Matter., 8, 8917–8925, https://doi.org/10.1039/c2sm25447f, 2012. 
Bain, A., Chan, M. N., and Bzdek, B. R.: Physical properties of short chain aqueous organosulfate aerosol, Environ. Sci. Atmos., 3, 1365–1373, https://doi.org/10.1039/d3ea00088e, 2023a. 
Bain, A., Ghosh, K., Prisle, N. L., and Bzdek, B. R.: Surface-Area-to-Volume Ratio Determines Surface Tensions in Microscopic, Surfactant-Containing Droplets, ACS Cent. Sci., 9, 2076–2083, https://doi.org/10.1021/acscentsci.3c00998, 2023b. 
Bain, A., Prisle, N. L., and Bzdek, B. R.: Model-Measurement Comparisons for Surfactant-Containing Aerosol Droplets, ACS Earth Sp. Chem., 8, 2244–2255, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsearthspacechem.4c00199, 2024a. 
Bain, A., Lalemi, L., Dawes Croll, N., Miles, R., Prophet, A., Wilson, K., and Bzdek, B.: Surfactant partitioning dynamics in freshly generated aerosol droplets, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 146, 16028–16038, https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.4c03041, 2024b. 
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Short summary
We measure the surface tension of picoliter-volume droplets containing strong ionic surfactants and cosolutes and compare this to surface tension predictions using two independent surfactant partitioning models. Under high-water-activity conditions, experimental measurements and model predictions show no change when NaCl cosolute is replaced with sea salt. Model predictions show that total surfactant concentrations in the range of tens to hundreds of millimolar are required to lower the surface tension of accumulation-mode aerosol. 
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