Photoacoustics of single laser-trapped nanodroplets for the direct observation of nanofocusing in aerosol photokinetics.

ABSTRACT: Photochemistry taking place in atmospheric aerosol droplets has a significant impact on the Earth's climate. Nanofocusing of electromagnetic radiation inside aerosols plays a crucial role in their absorption behaviour, since the radiation flux inside the droplet strongly affects the activation rate of photochemically active species. However, size-dependent nanofocusing effects in the photokinetics of small aerosols have escaped direct observation due to the inability to measure absorption signatures from single droplets. Here we show that photoacoustic measurements on optically trapped single nanodroplets provide a direct, broadly applicable method to measure absorption with attolitre sensitivity. We demonstrate for a model aerosol that the photolysis is accelerated by an order of magnitud

SUBMITTER: Cremer JW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4799369 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature