AAAR 32nd Annual Conference
September 30 - October 4, 2013
Oregon Convention Center
Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Coupling Electrostatic Precipitation with Attenuated Total Reflectance FTIR for Spectral Signature Studies
ZAHRA CHAUDHRY, Timothy Lippa, Thomas Buckley, Clinton Cahall, Rebecca Koslover, JHU APL
Abstract Number: 356 Working Group: Instrumentation and Methods
Abstract Spectral studies of aerosol-environmental interactions are needed which capture and interrogate the material without affecting or changing the aerosol or the interaction of interest. This proof-of-concept study set out to design and build an Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP), which would capture aerosolized material onto an optical crystal that could be spectrally analyzed via Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). This technique brings higher spectral resolution and sensitivity to the field of study, as well as a larger spectral library than is currently available with aerosol chemical detectors. The material of interest was nebulized, mixed with dry air and neutralized prior to entering the ESP. Successful deposition was characterized by a downstream particle counter and monitoring the ion current between the ESP wire electrode and the optical crystal. Data is presented comparing the library spectra with the measured ATR-FTIR spectra for polystyrene latex spheres and ethylene glycol. Future applications of this technology would be laboratory characterization of aged or degraded aerosols, investigation of complex surface chemical reactions, or characterization of chemical vapor-aerosol interactions.