Sink or surf: atmospheric implications for succinic acid at aqueous surfaces.

Small organic compounds are increasingly being invoked as important players in atmospheric processes that occur on aerosol surfaces. The diacid succinic acid is one such constituent that is prevalent in the troposphere, surface active, and also water-soluble. This article presents a thorough examination of the surface characteristics of succinic acid at the vapor/water interface using a combination of theoretical simulation and experiments using vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy and surface tension.

Surface behavior of malonic acid adsorption at the air/water interface.

The presence of organic materials adsorbed to the surfaces of aerosol particles has been demonstrated to be a determining factor in relevant atmospheric processes. Malonic acid is a small, water-soluble organic acid that is common in aerosols and is surface-active. A comprehensive investigation of the adsorption of malonic acid to the air/water interface was accomplished using vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy (VSFS) and surface tension measurements as functions of concentration and pH.

Uptake of SO2 to aqueous formaldehyde surfaces.

Aqueous surfaces act as a gateway to absorption and aqueous-phase reaction of gases in the atmosphere. The composition of aerosols varies greatly and is expected to influence the structure of the interface. For example, aldehydes comprise a significant fraction of atmospheric organics and are likely to accumulate at aqueous surfaces.

Chilling out: a cool aqueous environment promotes the formation of gas-surface complexes.

SO(2), an important atmospheric pollutant, has been implicated in environmental phenomena such as acid rain, climate change, and cloud formation. In addition, SO(2) is fundamentally interesting because it forms spectroscopically identifiable complexes with water at aqueous surfaces. Vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy (VSFS) is used here to further investigate the mechanism by which SO(2) adsorbs to water at tropospherically relevant temperatures (0-23 °C).

Spectroscopic studies of solvated hydrogen and hydroxide ions at aqueous surfaces.

Measuring the molecular properties of the surface of acidic and basic aqueous solutions is essential to understanding a wide range of important biological, chemical, and environmental processes on our planet. In the present studies, vibrational sum-frequency spectroscopy (VSFS) is employed in combination with isotopic dilution experiments at the vapor/water interface to elucidate the interfacial water structure as the pH is varied with HCl and NaOH. In acidic solutions, solvated proton species are seen throughout the interfacial region, and they alter the hydrogen bonding between water molecules in ways that reflect their depth in the interfacial region.