Raman studies of aerosol chemical reactions

Since Professor Matijevic and his colleagues published pioneering work on aerosol chemical reactions, based on experiments with monodisperse aerosol generators and laminar flow reactors, there has been considerable progress in the chemical characterization of aerosol particles and the study of their chemical reactions. This paper surveys recent developments and new research on the application of Raman spectroscopy to gas/liquid and gas/solid aerosol reactions. Of particular interest are applications of the vibrating orifice aerosol generator and electrodynamic and optical levitators coupled to Raman spectrometers to explore aerosol chemistry. The systems examined include the production of polymeric microspheres, the generation of metal oxide particles from alkoxide droplets, SO2/sorbent particle reactions used for desulfurization of stack gases, chemical characterization of particle arrays, and reactions following collisions of dissimilar particles. The complications associated with the interpretation of Raman data introduced by morphology-dependent resonances in the elastically scattered light are also examined.