Retrieving the translational diffusion coefficient of water from experiments on single levitated aerosol droplets.

The time-dependent growth and shrinkage of aqueous aerosol particles trapped in an electrodynamic balance exposed to changes in relative humidity (RH) depend on the translational diffusion coefficient of water (DH2O). Resonances in the Mie scattering patterns of the illuminated micrometre-sized droplets are used to follow the compositional evolution through stepwise changes in RH. Under conditions where the diffusion of water molecules becomes sufficiently slow, e.