In-situ atomic force microscopy investigation of aerosols exposed to different humidities

In-situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) studies were performed on aerosol samples showing the potential of a topochemical approach for gaining information on chemical and physical aerosol properties. The behavior of single sub-micron particles has been investigated with respect to changing humidity in the surrounding atmosphere. Volume calculations allowed monitoring of these changes on a quantitative basis. As expected these in-situ experiments showed the restructuring of particles with highly agglomerated chain-like structures induced by condensation and evaporation on a nanometer scale. The particle volumes decreased as the branched chain-like structure changed into a more regular clump-like structure. The degree of restructuring was clearly depending on the chemical surface properties as could be proven for soot-like test aerosol particles. The collapse of the chain-like structure on a nanometer scale was found to be significantly more pronounced for soot particles previously exposed to ozone. Furthermore, in-situ studies were performed on ammonium sulfate test aerosol. Though a distinct deliquescence point typical for salts could not be detected, neither in the topography nor in the phase image, ammonium sulfate test aerosol particles seemed to partially dissolve in humid atmosphere and hence to decrease in volume. Thus, the volume decrease induced by purging with humid nitrogen and subsequent drying which was also observed for a considerable fraction of urban aerosol, could be interpreted in terms of composition and surface properties considering the geometrical structure (i.e. state of agglomeration) of the particles.