Precise, contactless measurements of the surface tension of picolitre aerosol droplets.

ABSTRACT: The surface composition and surface tension of aqueous droplets can influence key aerosol characteristics and processes including the critical supersaturation required for activation to form cloud droplets in the atmosphere. Despite its fundamental importance, surface tension measurements on droplets represent a considerable challenge owing to their small volumes. In this work, we utilize holographic optical tweezers to study the damped surface oscillations of a suspended droplet (<10 μm radius) following the controlled coalescence of a pair of droplets and report the first contactless measurements of the surface tension and viscosity of droplets containing only 1-4 pL of material. An advantage of performing the measurement in aerosol is that supersaturated solute states (common in atmosph

SUBMITTER: Bzdek BR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5515047 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature