Application of Simulation Chambers to Investigate Interfacial Processes

Earlier chapters of this work have described procedures and protocols that are applicable to most chambers, this chapter has a slightly different focus; we predominantly consider multiphase processes where the applications are on phase transfer of chemical species rather than chemical reactions and the processes are generally occurring in highly specialized chambers. Three areas are described. Firstly, cloud formation processes; here, precise control of physical and thermodynamic properties is required to generate reproducible results. The second area examined is the air/sea interface, looking at the formation of aerosols from nonanoic acid as a surfactant with humic acid as a photosensitizer. The final apparatus described is the Roland von Glasow sea-ice chamber where a detailed protocol for the reproducible formation of sea-ice is given along with an outlook of future work. The systems studied in all three sections are characterized by difficulties in making detailed in situ observations in the real world, either due to the transitory nature of systems or the practical difficulties in accessing the systems. While these specialized simulation chambers may not perfectly reproduce conditions in the real world, the chambers do provide more facile opportunities for making extended and reproducible measurements to investigate fundamental physical and chemical processes, at significantly lower costs.