Hygroscopic growth and deliquescence of NaCl nanoparticles coated with surfactant AOT.

Aerosolized nanoparticles of NaCl coated with variable amounts of surfactant AOT were generated by electrospraying AOT/NaCl aqueous solutions, followed by neutralizing and drying the resulting particles. A tandem differential mobility analyzer was used to select a narrow size distribution of particles with mobility equivalent diameters below 20 nm and monitor their hygroscopic growth as a function of relative humidity. Effects of the particle size and relative amount of surfactant on the hygroscopic growth of NaCl were studied. For pure NaCl nanoparticles, the deliquescence relative humidity (DRH) increased as the particle size was decreased, in full agreement with previous measurements. Below the DRH the NaCl nanoparticles had an equivalent of one-four monolayers of water adsorbed on the surface. The addition of a sub-monolayer AOT coating reduced the DRH and suppressed the hygroscopic growth of the NaCl core. At AOT coverage levels exceeding one monolayer, a clear deliquescence transition was no longer discernible. The Zdanovskii-Stokes-Robinson (ZSR) model failed to predict the observed growth factors of mixed AOT/NaCl nanoparticles reflecting a large contribution of the interfacial interactions between NaCl and AOT to the total free energy of the particles. There were indications that AOT/NaCl nanoparticles prepared by the electrospray aerosol source were enhanced in the relative mass fraction of AOT in comparison with the solution from which they were electrosprayed.