Development of Instrumental Methods for Particulate and Aerosol Surface Science
Abstract
Reliable strategies for predicting the environmental fate, long-term stability, and mitigation of aerosolized compounds and chemical warfare agents (CWAs) requires a detailed understanding of the physical and chemical interactions that occur at the gas-surface interface. Therefore, instrumental methods have been developed for the purpose of studying the vapor-phase chemistry, characteristics of liquid aerosols, and the surface chemistry of model aerosols. These two instrumental methods will be critical in the collection of fundamental spectroscopic data important for the study of particulate and aerosol chemistry. The instruments will be employed to study simulant (at Virginia Tech) and agent (at Edgewood Chemical Biological Center) chemistry under real-world atmospheric conditions. The specific achievements for this project have been two-fold: (1) Designed and constructed a rotating drum environmental chamber (atmospheric cloud simulation chamber, ACSC) for suspending aerosols and studying the vapor via stand-off spectroscopic methods. The rotating drum enables experiments that probe chemistry in the presence of a prolonged suspension of aerosolized agent or simulant. The drum is coupled with cavity ring down spectroscopy (CRDS) for highly sensitive in situ absorbance spectra. Ambient environments with varying concentrations of pollutants (e.g., CO2, NOx, SOx, etc.) can be introduced for direct observation of reactive processes that aerosols may undergo in the atmosphere. The rotating drum and CRDS instruments have been fully constructed, tested, and used for initial studies employing CWA simulants at Virginia Tech. Following these initial tests, an identical system was transported to Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, where it has been re-assembled and installed into a surety hood for agent work. (2) Designed and constructed a complimentary instrument to the rotating drum for the study of molecules adsorbed to the surface of particulates.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 13, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1063161
Entities
People
- John R Morris
Organizations
- Virginia Tech