We have measured the freezing curve of liquid
H2SO4/H2O aerosol droplets
having average radii of
approximately 0.2 μm. We form the aerosol by the reaction of
SO3 with H2O and flow it through a
temperature-controlled flow tube equipped with reentrant windows, through which we
make observations by FTIR extinction
spectroscopy. At the freezing point, a microcrystallite of pure
ice (H2O(s)) nucleates in the aerosol
droplet,
and this causes a small change in the spectrum near 3250
cm-1. By recording the temperatures at which
the
crystallites appear for different acid concentrations, we are able to
map out the freezing curve. In the following
account, we describe the experimental technique and report the freezing
curve for the concentration range up
to 35 wt % H2SO4, which corresponds to
the first eutectic point on the phase diagram of the bulk
material.
We find that the aerosol supercools by about 35 K below the
temperature at which the corresponding bulk
material freezes. Our data show that the overall freezing
mechanism is similar to that of the bulk solution:
after nucleation, the crystallite grows with decreasing temperature,
causing the remaining acid to become
more concentrated due to the removal of H2O until
eventually a eutectic mixture forms.
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