Enhancing Double-Beam Laser Tweezers Raman Spectroscopy (LTRS) for the Photochemical Study of Individual Airborne Microdroplets

Jovanny A. Gómez Castaño (1, 2) , Luc Boussekey (1) , Jean P Verwaerde (1) , Myriam Moreau (1) , Yeny Tobon (1)

1 LASIRE - Laboratoire Avancé de Spectroscopie pour les Intéractions la Réactivité et l'Environnement - UMR 8516
2 UPTC - Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia

A new device and methodology for vertically coupling confocal Raman microscopy with optical tweezers for the in situ physico-and photochemical studies of individual microdroplets (Ø ≤ 10 µm) levitated in air is presented. The coupling expands the spectrum of studies performed with individual particles using laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy (LTRS) to photochemical processes and spatially resolved Raman microspectroscopy on airborne aerosols. This is the first study to demonstrate photochemical studies and Raman mapping on optically levitated droplets. By using this configuration, photochemical reactions in aerosols of atmospheric interest can be studied on a laboratory scale under realistic conditions of gas-phase composition and relative humidity. Likewise, the distribution of photoproducts within the drop can also be observed with this setup. The applicability of the coupling system was tested by studying the photochemical behavior of microdroplets (5 µm < Ø < 8 µm) containing an aqueous solution of sodium nitrate levitated in air and exposed to narrowed UV radiation (254 ± 25 nm). Photolysis of the levitated NaNO 3 microdroplets presented photochemical kinetic differences in comparison with larger NaNO 3 droplets (40 µm < Ø < 80 µm), previously photolyzed using acoustic traps, and heterogeneity in the distribution of the photoproducts within the drop.

Mots clés: optical traps; photochemical reactions in Earth's atmosphere; laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy (LTRS); atmospheric aerosols; optical levitation

Domaines: Chimie théorique et/ou physique

Jovanny A. Gómez Castaño, Luc Boussekey, Jean P Verwaerde, Myriam Moreau, Yeny Tobon. Enhancing Double-Beam Laser Tweezers Raman Spectroscopy (LTRS) for the Photochemical Study of Individual Airborne Microdroplets. Molecules, 2019, 24 (18), pp.3325. ⟨10.3390/molecules24183325⟩. ⟨hal-02285774⟩