Atmospheric Surface Science
A new area of interest for our laboratory is investigating the morphology of films formed when environmentally-important molecules absorb onto dust-like and soot-like surfaces. Carbon-containing emissions (e.g., from combustion engines) condense onto dust/soot particles in the environment, resulting in changes to particle surface properties, such as cloud-condensing ability (important for climate change), and altering the reactivity of the absorbate compound (which affects the chemical's lifespan in the environment). These changes will depend on coating morphology (formation of islands or uniform coating). Similar coating processes occur with other air pollutants, such as oleic acid (a by-product of meat cooking).