Surface Tension Dynamics in Atmospheric Aerosols
Summary
Surface tension at the air–liquid interface of atmospheric aerosol particles governs key processes in cloud formation, air quality and climate. In microscopic droplets and multiphase particles, the balance between surface and bulk properties dictates growth by water vapour uptake, activation into cloud droplets and rates of heterogeneous chemistry. Surface-active organic compounds and inorganic ions can partition to the interface, reducing or modulating surface tension, with consequences for the critical supersaturation required for cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activation. The very high surface-area-to-volume ratios of submicrometre aerosols amplify interfacial effects, while rapid processes of adsorption, diffusion and chemical reactions at the surface can occur on timescales comparable to droplet lifetimes in the atmosphere. Measurement of dynamic surface tension in picolitre to micrometre droplets remains challenging, yet recent advances in optical trapping, high-speed imaging and synchrotron-based spectroscopy have begun to resolve how composition, size and time-dependent partitioning control surface properties. An improved understanding of these dynamics is essential for accurate modelling of cloud microphysics, radiative forcing and the chemical evolution of atmospheric particles.
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Surface Tension Dynamics in Atmospheric Aerosols publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in surface tension dynamics in atmospheric aerosols across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Surface tension: Energy per unit area at the liquid–air interface that resists deformation of a droplet surface.
Aerosol: Suspension of fine solid or liquid particles in a gas, notably in Earth’s atmosphere.
Surfactant: Molecule with both hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions that adsorbs to interfaces, often reducing surface tension.
Cloud condensation nuclei (CCN): Aerosol particles that act as seeds for cloud droplet formation under supersaturated conditions.
Bulk-surface partitioning: Distribution of chemical species between the droplet interior and its interface.
Surface-area-to-volume ratio: Geometric parameter influencing the relative importance of interfacial processes in small droplets.
References
- Measuring the Surface Tension of Atmospheric Particles and Relevant Mixtures to Better Understand Key Atmospheric Processes. Chemical Reviews (2024).
- Surfaces of Atmospheric Droplet Models Probed with Synchrotron XPS on a Liquid Microjet. Accounts of Chemical Research (2023).
- Precise, contactless measurements of the surface tension of picolitre aerosol droplets. Chemical Science (2016).
- Surfactant Partitioning Dynamics in Freshly Generated Aerosol Droplets. Journal of the American Chemical Society (2024).
- Surface-Area-to-Volume Ratio Determines Surface Tensions in Microscopic, Surfactant-Containing Droplets. ACS Central Science (2023).
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