Impact of Bulk-Phase Self-Assembly on Growth and Activation of Aqueous Surfactant Aerosol.

ABSTRACT: Surface active compounds (surfactants) have been found in atmospheric aerosols from many environments. In microscopic aqueous droplets, their presence may cause a variety of effects that are challenging to model comprehensively. In this work, we investigate the solute effects of atmospheric surfactant self-assembly to form micelles and small clusters in aqueous droplets. Several water activity models are employed in combination with Köhler theory to represent self-assembly phenomena within the droplet bulk while also accounting for surfactant bulk-surface partitioning. Our results show that surfactant self-assembly has only minor effects at the critical point of cloud droplet activation; however, very significant effects are observed during earlier stages of droplet growth at subsaturated

SUBMITTER: Vepsalainen S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12288086 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature