Poster's note : thanks to Chris Vivian for identifying the paper. I'm blaming the obscure title! I think on-list discussion of the opportunity to use this effect for geoengineering would be great. For example, could ultrasonically-misting fats from palm oil or algae be used as a way to manufacture these aerosols on a climatically-significant scale?
Nature Communications <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01918-1#search-menu> <https://idp.nature.com/authorize/natureuser?client_id=grover&redirect_uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41467-017-01918-1> - PDF <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01918-1.pdf> Complex three-dimensional self-assembly in proxies for atmospheric aerosols Close menu Close menuClose menu Close menu Article | OPEN Complex three-dimensional self-assembly in proxies for atmospheric aerosols - C. Pfrang <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01918-1#auth-1>, - K. Rastogi <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01918-1#auth-2> , - […] - A. M. Squires <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01918-1#auth-9> - *Nature Communications* 8, Article number: 1724(2017) - doi:10.1038/s41467-017-01918-1 - Download Citation <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01918-1.ris> - - Atmospheric chemistry <https://www.nature.com/subjects/atmospheric-chemistry> - Characterization and analytical techniques <https://www.nature.com/subjects/characterization-and-analytical-techniques> - Molecular self-assembly <https://www.nature.com/subjects/molecular-self-assembly> Received:24 March 2017Accepted:25 October 2017Published online:23 November 2017 Abstract Aerosols are significant to the Earth’s climate, with nearly all atmospheric aerosols containing organic compounds that often contain both hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts. However, the nature of how these compounds are arranged within an aerosol droplet remains unknown. Here we demonstrate that fatty acids in proxies for atmospheric aerosols self-assemble into highly ordered three-dimensional nanostructures that may have implications for environmentally important processes. Acoustically trapped droplets of oleic acid/sodium oleate mixtures in sodium chloride solution are analysed by simultaneous synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering and Raman spectroscopy in a controlled gas-phase environment. We demonstrate that the droplets contained crystal-like lyotropic phases including hexagonal and cubic close-packed arrangements of spherical and cylindrical micelles, and stacks of bilayers, whose structures responded to atmospherically relevant humidity changes and chemical reactions. Further experiments show that self-assembly reduces the rate of the reaction of the fatty acid with ozone, and that lyotropic-phase formation also occurs in more complex mixtures more closely resembling compositions of atmospheric aerosols. We suggest that lyotropic-phase formation likely occurs in the atmosphere, with potential implications for radiative forcing, residence times and other aerosol characteristics. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01918-1 On 23 Nov 2017 12:31, "Andrew Lockley" <[email protected]> wrote: Poster's note : this is really interesting, but I can't find the paper. Hope someone can post it. Deep fat fryers may help form cooling clouds - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ science-environment-42081892 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
