Aqueous Aerosols in Atmospheric Chemistry and Airborne Diseases

Author: Gu, Alan Yalun

Year: 2022

Degree: Dissertation (Ph.D.)

Advisor: Hoffmann, Michael R.

Committee Members: Wennberg, Paul O.; Gray, Harry B.; Goddard, William A., III; Hoffmann, Michael R.

Option: Chemical Engineering

DOI: 10.7907/4spy-az88

Abstract

Aqueous atmospheric aerosols are small droplets (typically smaller than 5 μm) suspended in the air that are comprised of water and water-soluble components. These aerosols provide an air-water interfacial reaction environment on their surfaces, and act as a medium for airborne disease transmission. In this thesis, Chapters II and V explore atmospherically relevant reactions on the aqueous aerosol surface using an online mass spectrometry, while Chapter III investigates the SARS-CoV-2 airborne transmission considering suspended virus-laden aerosols as the transmission media. Spinning off this SARS-CoV-2 work, Chapter IV describes a newly developed quantitative RNA amplification test kit for COVID-19, with an emphasis on the amplification result photo recognition component.

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