Project of the month, February 2010

Surface Active Cis-pinonic Acid in Atmospheric Droplets: A Molecular Dynamics Study

Water vapor in the atmosphere can condensate and form cloud droplets when there is a certain amount of humidity and presence of cloud condensation nuclei, and organic solutes called surfactants can significantly lower surface tension of water - one of the parameters determining cloud droplet population. We here present a molecular dynamics study of the behavior of cis-pinonic acid, a commonly found organic compound in cloud condensation nuclei, and its effect on the surface tension of water clusters. Specifically, the decrease in surface tension is found to depend on not only the concentration of the organic compound but also the droplet size, due to the spontaneous assembly of the surfactant molecules on the droplet surface. This leads to the conclusion that the partitioning of the surfactant between bulk and surface plays an important role in the behavior of atmospheric aerosol particles and thus for their availability for cloud formation.

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