Classification of Sub-10 nm Aerosol: Theory, Instrument Development, and Experiment

Author: Downard, Andrew Joseph

Year: 2012

Degree: Dissertation (Ph.D.)

Advisor: Flagan, Richard C.

Committee Members: Flagan, Richard C.; Beauchamp, Jesse L.; Seinfeld, John H.; Wennberg, Paul O.

Option: Chemical Engineering

DOI: 10.7907/KP0F-8T32

Abstract

The large diffusion coefficients of sub-10 nm aerosol have posed a long-standing challenge to the aerosol community; to understand nucleation and early growth, there is a need for methods such as those presented here that transmit a strong, high resolution signal of classified charged aerosol to the detector. I introduce a framework for comparison of the Flagan Laboratory classifiers to other instruments, and I show why our instruments perform favorably relative to these alternatives. Reducing the size of the classification region reduces the effect of diffusion on performance and will ultimately enable the development of personal health monitors. The deployment of our instruments to the Cosmics Leaving OUtdoor Droplets experiment at CERN motivated a deeper look into detector performance and design for extreme operating conditions. I caution about the possible interference of ion nucleation with measurements and introduce a process for optimizing detector performance at arbitrary temperature. My experience with aerosol classifications has inspired the invention of separation methods for related fields; I conclude by describing methods for the high resolution separation of gas ions and of aqueous particles such as proteins and antibodies.

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