Nanoparticles in air are of particular concern for public health and employee exposure in work-places. Therefore, it is very important to prepare effective filters for their removal. In this work filters were prepared...Nanoparticles in air are of particular concern for public health and employee exposure in work-places. Therefore, it is very important to prepare effective filters for their removal. In this work filters were prepared from nanocellulose, i.e. cellulose nanofibrils (CNF). CNF was produced using two methods giving two different qualities of CNF. One quality had negative charges on the fibril surfaces while the other was neutral, and had in addition thinner fibrils compared to the other qualities. Filter samples were produced from water dispersions of CNF, by removal of the water by freeze drying. The performance of the CNF based filters was assessed and compared with filters based on synthetic polymer fibres. The ability to collect NaCl particles with a broad size distribution, ranging from nanometer to micrometer scale, was determined. CNF filters showed quality values comparable with the synthetic polymer based filters. Filters based on both the two CNF qualities had very good filtration efficiency for a given pressure drop across the filter.展开更多
The paper addresses some of the problems surrounding the relation between ice core chemical signals and atmospheric chemical composition in polar areas. The topic is important as the reconstruction of past climate and...The paper addresses some of the problems surrounding the relation between ice core chemical signals and atmospheric chemical composition in polar areas. The topic is important as the reconstruction of past climate and past atmospheric chemical composition is based on the assumption that chemical concentrations in the air, snow, firn and ice core are correlated. Ice core interpretation of aerosol is more straightforward than that of reactive gases. The transfer functions of gaseous species strongly interacting with ice are complex and additional field and laboratory experiments are required. Ice core chemical signals depend on the chemical composition of precipitations, which are related to the physics of precipitation formation, the chemical composition of the atmosphere, and post-depositional processes. Published papers reporting data on the chemical composition of snow seldom consider the fact that crystal formation and growth in cloud (rimed or unrimed) or near the ground (clear-sky precipitations), hoar-frost formation and surface riming determine different chemical concentrations, even assuming constant background concentration in the atmosphere. This paper discusses the physical and chemical processes affecting the formation of precipitations in polar areas, and the process of scavenging gases from non-growing and growing crystals. Attention is mainly focused on the processes involving nitrate anion in snow, hoar frost and firn. Knowledge of the chemical relationship between surface snow and atmospheric chemical concentration could be enhanced by considering specific events, such as snow falling from cloud, clear sky precipitation, and surface hoar or riming surface, with simultaneous air sampling. In conclusion, field and laboratory experiments are still required to study the scavenging processes during crystal formation.展开更多
The role of phoretic forces in the identification of particles acting as ice nuclei in mixed phase cloud is discussed. A method used to identify the effective ice nucleating particles is to sample ice crystals, which ...The role of phoretic forces in the identification of particles acting as ice nuclei in mixed phase cloud is discussed. A method used to identify the effective ice nucleating particles is to sample ice crystals, which are afterwards sublimated, and to examine the particles remaining after evaporation. The procedure takes into account only crystal with a maximum diameter of 20 μm, by assuming that small crystals do not scavenge aerosol during growth, and therefore that crystals contain only the effective nucleating particles. This assumption is questionable, however, as experiments have shown that even small ice crystals can scavenge aerosol. Another approach has been to compare the number and elemental composition of residual particles in small ice crystals and of aerosol near the cloud. By considering as example soot and black carbon aerosol, contradictory conclusions on their importance in the processes of ice nucleation have been reported in the literature. We suggest that, in addition to physico-chemical properties of soot/carbon aerosol particles, even the microphysical and environmental parameters involved in the transition of aerosol from gas phase to ice crystals in cloud should be considered. The contribution of phoretic forces should also be considered. After initial growth ice crystals can continue to grow by water vapour diffusion. Laboratory experiments confirm the contribution of diffusiophoresis with Stefan flow in the scavenging by snow crystals up to 3 mm in diameter. The particle scavenging efficiency of snow crystals is related to crystalline shape and depends on air relative humidity and temperature.展开更多
文摘Nanoparticles in air are of particular concern for public health and employee exposure in work-places. Therefore, it is very important to prepare effective filters for their removal. In this work filters were prepared from nanocellulose, i.e. cellulose nanofibrils (CNF). CNF was produced using two methods giving two different qualities of CNF. One quality had negative charges on the fibril surfaces while the other was neutral, and had in addition thinner fibrils compared to the other qualities. Filter samples were produced from water dispersions of CNF, by removal of the water by freeze drying. The performance of the CNF based filters was assessed and compared with filters based on synthetic polymer fibres. The ability to collect NaCl particles with a broad size distribution, ranging from nanometer to micrometer scale, was determined. CNF filters showed quality values comparable with the synthetic polymer based filters. Filters based on both the two CNF qualities had very good filtration efficiency for a given pressure drop across the filter.
文摘The paper addresses some of the problems surrounding the relation between ice core chemical signals and atmospheric chemical composition in polar areas. The topic is important as the reconstruction of past climate and past atmospheric chemical composition is based on the assumption that chemical concentrations in the air, snow, firn and ice core are correlated. Ice core interpretation of aerosol is more straightforward than that of reactive gases. The transfer functions of gaseous species strongly interacting with ice are complex and additional field and laboratory experiments are required. Ice core chemical signals depend on the chemical composition of precipitations, which are related to the physics of precipitation formation, the chemical composition of the atmosphere, and post-depositional processes. Published papers reporting data on the chemical composition of snow seldom consider the fact that crystal formation and growth in cloud (rimed or unrimed) or near the ground (clear-sky precipitations), hoar-frost formation and surface riming determine different chemical concentrations, even assuming constant background concentration in the atmosphere. This paper discusses the physical and chemical processes affecting the formation of precipitations in polar areas, and the process of scavenging gases from non-growing and growing crystals. Attention is mainly focused on the processes involving nitrate anion in snow, hoar frost and firn. Knowledge of the chemical relationship between surface snow and atmospheric chemical concentration could be enhanced by considering specific events, such as snow falling from cloud, clear sky precipitation, and surface hoar or riming surface, with simultaneous air sampling. In conclusion, field and laboratory experiments are still required to study the scavenging processes during crystal formation.
文摘The role of phoretic forces in the identification of particles acting as ice nuclei in mixed phase cloud is discussed. A method used to identify the effective ice nucleating particles is to sample ice crystals, which are afterwards sublimated, and to examine the particles remaining after evaporation. The procedure takes into account only crystal with a maximum diameter of 20 μm, by assuming that small crystals do not scavenge aerosol during growth, and therefore that crystals contain only the effective nucleating particles. This assumption is questionable, however, as experiments have shown that even small ice crystals can scavenge aerosol. Another approach has been to compare the number and elemental composition of residual particles in small ice crystals and of aerosol near the cloud. By considering as example soot and black carbon aerosol, contradictory conclusions on their importance in the processes of ice nucleation have been reported in the literature. We suggest that, in addition to physico-chemical properties of soot/carbon aerosol particles, even the microphysical and environmental parameters involved in the transition of aerosol from gas phase to ice crystals in cloud should be considered. The contribution of phoretic forces should also be considered. After initial growth ice crystals can continue to grow by water vapour diffusion. Laboratory experiments confirm the contribution of diffusiophoresis with Stefan flow in the scavenging by snow crystals up to 3 mm in diameter. The particle scavenging efficiency of snow crystals is related to crystalline shape and depends on air relative humidity and temperature.
