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Electron tomography of nanoparticle clusters: Implications for atmospheric lifetimes and radiative forcing of soot
Author(s) -
van Poppel Laura H.,
Friedrich Heiner,
Spinsby Jacob,
Chung Serena H.,
Seinfeld John H.,
Buseck Peter R.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2005gl024461
Subject(s) - soot , radiative forcing , radiative transfer , nanoparticle , cluster (spacecraft) , electron tomography , materials science , atmospheric sciences , carbon black , tomography , electron , forcing (mathematics) , environmental science , computational physics , transmission electron microscopy , chemical physics , molecular physics , physics , chemistry , optics , scanning transmission electron microscopy , meteorology , nanotechnology , aerosol , combustion , programming language , natural rubber , computer science , composite material , quantum mechanics
Nanoparticles are ubiquitous in nature. Their large surface areas and consequent chemical reactivity typically result in their aggregation into clusters. Their chemical and physical properties depend on cluster shapes, which are commonly complex and unknown. This is the first application of electron tomography with a transmission electron microscope to quantitatively determine the three‐dimensional (3D) shapes, volumes, and surface areas of nanoparticle clusters. We use soot (black carbon, BC) nanoparticles as an example because it is a major contributor to environmental degradation and global climate change. To the extent that our samples are representative, we find that quantitative measurements of soot surface areas and volumes derived from electron tomograms differ from geometrically derived values by, respectively, almost one and two orders of magnitude. Global sensitivity studies suggest that the global burden and direct radiative forcing of fractal BC are only about 60% of the value if it is assumed that BC has a spherical shape.