Infrared spectroscopy of sulfuric acid water aerosols: Freezing characteristics

A low-temperature flow cell has been used in conjunction with a Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrometer to study sulfuric acid/water aerosols. The aerosols were generated with a wide range of composition (28 to 85 wt %), including those characteristic of stratospheric sulfate aerosols, and studied over the temperature range from 240 K to 160 K. The particles exhibited deep supercooling, by as much as 100 K below the freezing point in some cases. Freezing of water ice was observed in the more dilute (<40 wt % sulfuric acid) particles, in agreement with the predictions of Jensen et al. and recent observations by Bertram et al. In contrast with theoretical predictions, however, the entire particle often does not immediately freeze, at least on the timescale of the present experiments (seconds to minutes). Freezing of the entire particle is observed at lower temperatures, well below that characteristic of the polar stratosphere.