New paper in Journal of Aerosol Science, Wonaschütz et al.

04.10.2017

Chemical composition of radiolytically formed particles using single-particle mass spectrometry

A. Wonaschuetz, P. Kallinger, W. Szymanski, and R. Hitzenberger, Journal of Aerosol Science 113, 242 - 249

This study presents the first chemical analysis of radiolytically formed particles in a soft x-ray irradiation chamber. Radiolytic particle formation - the formation of aerosol particles in initially particle-free air through irradiation with ionizing radiation – can be a useful process for the detection of gaseous contaminants in clean air, or an undesirable source of particles in experimental setups. We show that radiolytic particles form, and can grow to several 100 nm in manufactured gases of 99.999% purity. We use a new single particle aerosol mass spectrometer for analysis of extremely small amounts of aerosol sample and show that the particles contain organic compounds as well as sulfate and nitrate.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaerosci.2017.07.012