RUI: Solid/Liquid Phase Diagrams of Aqueous Inorganic and Organic Substances of Upper Tropospheric Importance

这个本科院校研究（RUI）项目是在P.I.过去成功进行的实验室研究的基础上进行的，研究了水和混合溶质系统的热力学性质，模拟了居住在对流层上层的气溶胶颗粒。实验室实验将使用差示扫描量热法（DSC）和红外（IR）光谱学，扩大热化学数据的范围——包括平衡相图和作为温度和化学成分函数的溶液热容——在一些对流层相关的水系统上。pi还将通过测量这些系统的融合焓和固-固相变来验证低温下的理论热力学模型，从而在未来的低温下识别几种成分混合物中的未知固体。本科生将广泛参与实验室实验工作和数据分析。就更广泛的影响而言，该项目将对目前对全球对流层中存在的影响辐射平衡和云成核的一些重要气溶胶系统的理解作出实质性贡献，同时提高一所相对较小的高等教育机构的一些本科生的教育、专业培训和研究经验。该项目的结果将为大气科学界提供新的数据，这些数据可能会对现有的气溶胶热力学模型产生更现实和更具代表性的限制。

This Research at Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) project extends upon successful past laboratory studies conducted by the P.I. investigating thermodynamic properties of aqueous and mixed-solute systems that emulate aerosol particles resident in the upper troposphere. Laboratory experiments will expand the range of thermochemical data - including equilibrium phase diagrams and solution heat capacities as a function of temperature and chemical composition - on a number of tropospherically relevant aqueous systems, using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and infrared (IR) spectroscopy. The P.I. will also verify theoretical model thermodynamics at low temperature by measuring enthalpies of fusion and solid-solid phase transitions of these systems, enabling identification of unknown solids in mixtures of several components at cold temperatures in the future. Undergraduate students will be extensively involved in laboratory experimental work and data analysis. With respect to broader impacts, this project will make a substantive contribution to current understanding of some important aerosol systems present in the global troposphere that influence radiative balance and cloud nucleation, while enhancing the education, professional training and research experience of a number of undergraduate students at a relatively small tertiary institution. The project results will provide the atmospheric science community with new data that may lead to more realistic and representative constraints on existing aerosol thermodynamic models.