Articles | Volume 15, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3859-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3859-2022
Research article
 | 
29 Jun 2022
Research article |  | 29 Jun 2022

Substantial organic impurities at the surface of synthetic ammonium sulfate particles

Junteng Wu, Nicolas Brun, Juan Miguel González-Sánchez, Badr R'Mili, Brice Temime Roussel, Sylvain Ravier, Jean-Louis Clément, and Anne Monod

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Cited articles

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Badger, C. L., George, I., Griffiths, P. T., Braban, C. F., Cox, R. A., and Abbatt, J. P. D.: Phase transitions and hygroscopic growth of aerosol particles containing humic acid and mixtures of humic acid and ammonium sulphate, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 6, 755–768, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-6-755-2006, 2006. 
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Short summary
This work quantified and tentatively identified the organic impurities on ammonium sulfate aerosols generated in the laboratory. They are likely low volatile and high mass molecules containing oxygen, nitrogen, and/or sulfur. Our results show that these organic impurities likely originate from the commercial AS crystals. It is recommended to use AS seeds with caution, especially when small particles are used, in terms of AS purity and water purity when aqueous solutions are used for atomization.
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