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

本科生研究所(RUI)的这一项目是在过去由P.I.进行的成功的实验室研究的基础上进行的，该实验室研究了模拟驻留在对流层上层的气溶胶粒子的水和混合溶质系统的热力学性质。实验室实验将利用差示扫描量热仪(DSC)和红外(IR)光谱，扩大一些对流层相关水体系的热化学数据范围，包括平衡相图和溶液热容量随温度和化学组成的变化。P.I.还将通过测量这些系统的熔化热和固体-固体相变来验证低温下的理论模型热力学，从而能够在未来的低温下识别几个组分的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。关于更广泛的影响，该项目将对目前了解全球对流层中一些影响辐射平衡和云成核的重要气溶胶系统作出实质性贡献，同时加强一些在相对较小的高等教育机构的本科生的教育、专业培训和研究经验。该项目的成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.