Surface Tension of Organophosphorus Compounds: Sarin and its Surrogates.

While the production and stockpiling of organophosphorus chemical warfare agents (CWAs), such as sarin, was banned three decades ago, CWAs have remained a threat. New approaches for decontamination and destruction of CWAs require detailed knowledge of their various physicochemical properties. In particular, surface tension is needed to describe the formation and evolution of hazardous aerosols when CWA liquids are dispersed in the air. Due to the extreme toxicity of sarin, most experimental studies are carried out using its surrogates─organophosphorus compounds which, while having similar structures, are much less toxic, e.g., dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP) and diisopropyl methylphosphonate (DIMP). However, not only for sarin, but also for its surrogates, literature data on the surface tension are scarce. Here we present experimental measurements and computational predictions of the surface tension of DMMP and DIMP. Classical molecular dynamics simulations using the Transferable Potentials for Phase Equilibria (TraPPE) force field produced an excellent agreement with the experimental results in the temperature range from 3 to 60 °C, validating the predictive capability of TraPPE. Consequently, we applied the TraPPE force field to sarin. Our modeled values for the sarin surface tension cover the range of temperatures from 0 to 85 °C, and the four experimental data points from the literature measured between 20 and 35 °C agree perfectly with our predictions. The temperature-dependent surface tension values for sarin and its surrogates obtained in our study can be used in models predicting the formation and evolution of aerosols made of these chemicals. Furthermore, our results justify the use of the TraPPE force field to derive the thermodynamic properties of other organophosphorus compounds with structures similar to the ones studied here.

Vapor Condensation and Coating Evaporation Are Both Responsible for Soot Aggregate Restructuring.

Fresh soot is made of fractal aggregates, which often appear collapsed in atmospheric samples. A body of work has concluded that the collapse is caused by liquid shells when they form by vapor condensation around soot aggregates. However, some recent studies argue that soot remains fractal even when engulfed by the shells, collapsing only when the shells evaporate. To reconcile this disagreement, we investigated soot restructuring under conditions ranging from capillary condensation to full encapsulation, also including condensate evaporation. In these experiments, airborne fractal aggregates were exposed to vapors of wetting liquids, and particle size was measured before and after coating loss, allowing us to isolate the contribution from condensation toward restructuring. We show the existence of three distinct regions along the path connecting the initial fractal and final collapsed aggregates, where minor restructuring occurs already at zero vapor supersaturation due to capillary condensation. Increasing supersaturation increases the amount of condensate, producing a more notable aggregate shrinkage. At even higher supersaturations, the aggregates become encapsulated, and subsequent condensate evaporation leaves behind fully compacted aggregates. Hence, for wetting liquids, minor restructuring begins already during capillary condensation and significant restructuring occurs as the coating volume increases. However, at this time, we cannot precisely quantify the contribution of condensate evaporation to the full aggregate compaction.

Single Parameter for Predicting the Morphology of Atmospheric Black Carbon.

Black carbon (BC) from fuel combustion is an effective light absorber that contributes significantly to direct climate forcing. The forcing is altered when BC combines with other substances, which modify its mixing state and morphology, making the evaluation of its atmospheric lifetime and climate impact a challenge. To elucidate the associated mechanisms, we exposed BC aerosol to supersaturated vapors of different chemicals to form thin coatings and measured the coating mass required to induce the restructuring of BC aggregates. We found that studied chemicals fall into two distinct groups based on a single dimensionless parameter, χ, which depends on the diameter of BC monomer spheres and the coating material properties, including vapor supersaturation, molar volume, and surface tension. We show that when χ is small (low-volatility chemicals), the highly supersaturated vapor condenses uniformly over aggregates, including convex monomers and concave junctions in between monomers, but when χ is large (intermediate-volatility chemicals), junctions become preferred. The aggregates undergo prompt restructuring when condensation in the junctions dominates over condensation on monomer spheres. For a given monomer diameter, the coating distribution is mostly controlled by vapor supersaturation. The χ factor can be incorporated straightforwardly into atmospheric models to improve simulations of BC aging.

High sensitivity of diesel soot morphological and optical properties to combustion temperature in a shock tube.

Carbonaceous particles produced from combustion of fossil fuels have strong impacts on air quality and climate, yet quantitative relationships between particle characteristics and combustion conditions remain inadequately understood. We have used a shock tube to study the formation and properties of diesel combustion soot, including particle size distributions, effective density, elemental carbon (EC) mass fraction, mass-mobility scaling exponent, hygroscopicity, and light absorption and scattering. These properties are found to be strongly dependent on the combustion temperature and fuel equivalence ratio. Whereas combustion at higher temperatures (∼2000 K) yields fractal particles of a larger size and high EC content (90 wt %), at lower temperatures (∼1400 K) smaller particles of a higher organic content (up to 65 wt %) are produced. Single scattering albedo of soot particles depends largely on their organic content, increasing drastically from 0.3 to 0.8 when the particle EC mass fraction decreases from 0.9 to 0.3. The mass absorption cross-section of diesel soot increases with combustion temperature, being the highest for particles with a higher EC content. Our results reveal that combustion conditions, especially the temperature, may have significant impacts on the direct and indirect climate forcing of atmospheric soot aerosols.

Effects of Humidity on Mycelium-Based Leather.

Leather is a product that has been used for millennia. While it is a natural material, its production raises serious environmental and ethical concerns. To mitigate those, the engineering of sustainable biobased leather substitutes has become a trend over the past few years. Among the biobased materials, mycelium, the fungal "root" of a mushroom, is one of the promising alternatives to animal leather, as a material with tunable physicomechanical properties. Understanding the effect of humidity on mycelium-based leather material properties is essential to the production of durable, competitive, and sustainable leather products. To this end, we measured the water sorption isotherms on several samples of mycelium-based leather materials and investigated the effects of water sorption on their elastic properties. The ultrasonic pulse transmission method was used to measure the wave speed through the materials while measuring their sorption isotherms at different humidity levels. Additionally, the material's properties were mechanically tested by performing uniaxial tensile tests under ambient and immersed conditions. An overall reduction in elastic moduli was observed during both absorption and immersion. The changes in the measured longitudinal modulus during water sorption reveal changes in the elasticity of the test materials. The observed irreversible variation of the longitudinal modulus during the initial water sorption can be related to the material production process and the presence of various additives that affect the mechanical properties of the leather materials. Our results presented here should be of interest to material science experts developing a new generation of sustainable leather products.

Role of OH-initiated oxidation of isoprene in aging of combustion soot.

We have investigated the contribution of OH-initiated oxidation of isoprene to the atmospheric aging of combustion soot. The experiments were conducted in a fluoropolymer chamber on size-classified soot aerosols in the presence of isoprene, photolytically generated OH, and nitrogen oxides. The evolution in the mixing state of soot was monitored from simultaneous measurements of the particle size and mass, which were used to calculate the particle effective density, dynamic shape factor, mass fractal dimension, and coating thickness. When soot particles age, the increase in mass is accompanied by a decrease in particle mobility diameter and an increase in effective density. Coating material not only fills in void spaces, but also causes partial restructuring of fractal soot aggregates. For thinly coated aggregates, the single scattering albedo increases weakly because of the decreased light absorption and practically unchanged scattering. Upon humidification, coated particles absorb water, leading to an additional compaction. Aging transforms initially hydrophobic soot particles into efficient cloud condensation nuclei at a rate that increases in the presence of nitrogen oxides. Our results suggest that ubiquitous biogenic isoprene plays an important role in aging of anthropogenic soot, shortening its atmospheric lifetime and considerably altering its impacts on air quality and climate.

Ultrasonic study of water adsorbed in nanoporous glasses.

Thermodynamic properties of fluids confined in nanopores differ from those observed in the bulk. To investigate the effect of nanoconfinement on water compressibility, we perform water sorption experiments on two nanoporous glass samples while concomitantly measuring the speed of longitudinal and shear ultrasonic waves in these samples. These measurements yield the longitudinal and shear moduli of the water-laden nanoporous glass as a function of relative humidity that we utilize in the Gassmann theory to infer the bulk modulus of the confined water. This analysis shows that the bulk modulus (inverse of compressibility) of confined water is noticeably higher than that of the bulk water at the same temperature. Moreover, the modulus exhibits a linear dependence on the Laplace pressure. The results for water, which is a polar fluid, agree with previous experimental and numerical data reported for nonpolar fluids. This similarity suggests that irrespective of intermolecular forces, confined fluids are stiffer than bulk fluids. Accounting for fluid stiffening in nanopores may be important for accurate interpretation of wave propagation measurements in fluid-filled nanoporous media, including in petrophysics, catalysis, and other applications, such as in porous materials characterization.

Soot aging from OH-initiated oxidation of toluene.

We have conducted laboratory experiments to investigate the impacts of secondary organic aerosol formation on soot properties from OH-initiated oxidation of toluene. Monodisperse soot particles are exposed to the oxidation products of the OH-toluene reaction in an environmental chamber, and variations in particle size, mass, organic mass faction, morphology, effective density, hygroscopicity, and optical properties are simultaneously determined by an integrated aerosol analytical system. The thickness of the organic coating, correlated to reaction time and initial reactant concentrations, is shown to largely govern the particle properties. With the development of organic coating, the soot core is changed from a highly fractal to compact form, evident from the measured effective density and dynamic shape factor. The organic coating increases the particle hygroscopicity, and further exposure of coated soot to elevated relative humidity results in a more spherical particle. The single scattering albedo and scattering and absorption cross sections are also enhanced with the organic coating. Our results suggest that the oxidation products of anthropogenic pollutants alter the composition and properties of soot particles and lead to increased particle density, hygroscopicity, and optical properties, considerably enhancing their impacts on air quality, climate forcing, and human health.

Heterogeneous reactions of epoxides in acidic media.

Epoxides have recently been identified as important intermediates in the gas phase oxidation of hydrocarbons, and their hydrolysis products have been observed in ambient aerosols. To evaluate the role of epoxides in the formation of secondary organic aerosols (SOA), the kinetics and mechanism of heterogeneous reactions of two model epoxides, isoprene oxide and α-pinene oxide, with sulfuric acid, ammonium bisulfate, and ammonium sulfate have been investigated using complementary experimental techniques. Kinetic experiments using a fast flow reactor coupled to an ion drift-chemical ionization mass spectrometer (ID-CIMS) show a fast irreversible loss of the epoxides with the uptake coefficients (γ) of (1.7 ± 0.1) × 10(-2) and (4.6 ± 0.3) × 10(-2) for isoprene oxide and α-pinene oxide, respectively, for 90 wt % H(2)SO(4) and at room temperature. Experiments using attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) reveal that diols are the major products in ammonium bisulfate and dilute H(2)SO(4) (<25 wt %) solutions for both epoxides. In concentrated H(2)SO(4) (>65 wt %), acetals are formed from isoprene oxide, whereas organosulfates are produced from α-pinene oxide. The reaction of the epoxides with ammonium sulfate is slow and no products are observed. The epoxide reactions using bulk samples and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy reveal the presence of diols as the major products for isoprene oxide, accompanied by aldehyde formation. For α-pinene oxide, organosulfate formation is observed with a yield increasing with the acidity. Large yields of organosulfates in all NMR experiments with α-pinene oxide are attributed to the kinetic isotope effect (KIE) from the use of deuterated sulfuric acid and water. Our results suggest that acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of epoxides results in the formation of a wide range of products, and some of the products have low volatility and contribute to SOA growth under ambient conditions prevailing in the urban atmosphere.

Formation of nanoparticles of blue haze enhanced by anthropogenic pollution.

The molecular processes leading to formation of nanoparticles of blue haze over forested areas are highly complex and not fully understood. We show that the interaction between biogenic organic acids and sulfuric acid enhances nucleation and initial growth of those nanoparticles. With one cis-pinonic acid and three to five sulfuric acid molecules in the critical nucleus, the hydrophobic organic acid part enhances the stability and growth on the hydrophilic sulfuric acid counterpart. Dimers or heterodimers of biogenic organic acids alone are unfavorable for new particle formation and growth because of their hydrophobicity. Condensation of low-volatility organic acids is hindered on nano-sized particles, whereas ammonia contributes negligibly to particle growth in the size range of 3-30 nm. The results suggest that initial growth from the critical nucleus to the detectable size of 2-3 nm most likely occurs by condensation of sulfuric acid and water, implying that anthropogenic sulfur emissions (mainly from power plants) strongly influence formation of terrestrial biogenic particles and exert larger direct and indirect climate forcing than previously recognized.

Heterogeneous reactions of alkylamines with ammonium sulfate and ammonium bisulfate.

The heterogeneous reactions between alkylamines and ammonium salts (ammonium sulfate and ammonium bisulfate) have been studied using a low-pressure fast flow reactor coupled to an ion drift-chemical ionization mass spectrometer (ID-CIMS) at 293 ± 2 K. The uptake of three alkylamines, i.e., monomethylamine, dimethylamine, and trimethylamine, on ammonium sulfate shows a displacement reaction of ammonium by aminium, evidenced by the release of ammonia monitored using protonated acetone dimer as the reagent ion. For the three alkylamines, the initial uptake coefficients (γ(0)) range from 2.6 × 10(-2) to 3.4 × 10(-2) and the steady-state uptake coefficients (γ(ss)) range from 6.0 × 10(-3) to 2.3 × 10(-4) and decrease as the number of methyl groups on the alkylamine increases. A different reaction mechanism is observed for the uptake of the three alkylamines on ammonium bisulfate, which is featured by an acid-base reaction (neutralization) with irreversible alkylamine loss and no ammonia generation and occurs at a rate limited by diffusion of gaseous alkylamines to the ammonium bisulfate surface. Our results reveal that the reactions between alkylamines and ammonium salts contribute to particle growth and alter the composition of ammonium sulfate and bisulfate aerosols in the atmosphere.

Laboratory investigation on the role of organics in atmospheric nanoparticle growth.

The uptake of organic vapors by 4-20 nm H(2)SO(4) particles has been investigated to assess the role of organics in atmospheric nanoparticle growth. Sulfuric acid nanoparticles are generated from homogeneous binary nucleation of H(2)SO(4) and H(2)O vapors in a laminar flow chamber. The growth factor of H(2)SO(4) nanoparticles exposed to methyglyoxal, ethanol, 1-butanol, 1-heptanol, and 1-decanol is measured using a nanotandem differential mobility analyzer (nano-TDMA). The measured growth factor is close to unity when nanoparticles are exposed to methylglyoxal, ethanol, 1-butanol, 1-heptanol, and 1-decanol, indicating no apparent growth within the experimental uncertainty. In addition, spectroscopic evolution of functional groups in H(2)SO(4) particles of ∼40 nm diameter size, deposited on ZnSe crystal and subsequently exposed to glyoxal and 2,4-hexadienal, is studied using attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FT-IR). The ATR-FT-IR measurements present the first spectroscopic signatures of high molecular weight aldol and oligomer products and show that polymerization and oligomerization reactions are partially reversible. The implications of the present results to nanoparticle growth in the atmosphere are discussed.

Variability in morphology, hygroscopicity, and optical properties of soot aerosols during atmospheric processing.

The atmospheric effects of soot aerosols include interference with radiative transfer, visibility impairment, and alteration of cloud formation and are highly sensitive to the manner by which soot is internally mixed with other aerosol constituents. We present experimental studies to show that soot particles acquire a large mass fraction of sulfuric acid during atmospheric aging, considerably altering their properties. Soot particles exposed to subsaturated sulfuric acid vapor exhibit a marked change in morphology, characterized by a decreased mobility-based diameter but an increased fractal dimension and effective density. These particles experience large hygroscopic size and mass growth at subsaturated conditions (<90% relative humidity) and act efficiently as cloud-condensation nuclei. Coating with sulfuric acid and subsequent hygroscopic growth enhance the optical properties of soot aerosols, increasing scattering by approximately 10-fold and absorption by nearly 2-fold at 80% relative humidity relative to fresh particles. In addition, condensation of sulfuric acid is shown to occur at a similar rate on ambient aerosols of various types of a given mobility size, regardless of their chemical compositions and microphysical structures. Representing an important mechanism of atmospheric aging, internal mixing of soot with sulfuric acid has profound implications on visibility, human health, and direct and indirect climate forcing.

Heterogeneous reaction of NO(2) on fresh and coated soot surfaces.

The heterogeneous reaction of nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)) on fresh and coated soot surfaces has been investigated to assess its role in night-time formation of nitrous acid (HONO) in the atmosphere. Soot surfaces were prepared by incomplete combustion of propane and kerosene fuels under lean and rich flame conditions and then processed by heating to evaporate semivolatile species or by coating with pyrene, sulfuric acid, or glutaric acid. Uptake kinetics and HONO yield measurements were performed in a low-pressure fast-flow reactor coupled to a chemical ionization mass spectrometer (CIMS), using atmospheric-level NO(2) concentrations. The uptake coefficient and the HONO yield upon interaction of NO(2) with nascent soot depend on the type of fuel and combustion regime and are the highest for samples prepared using fuel rich flame. Heating the nascent soot samples before exposure to NO(2) removes the organic material from the soot backbone, leading to a significant increase in NO(2) uptake coefficient and HONO yield. Continuous exposure to NO(2) reduces the reactivity of soot because of irreversible deactivation of the surface sites. Our results support the oxidation-reduction mechanism involving adsorptive and reactive centers on soot surface where NO(2) is converted to HONO and other products. Coating of the soot surface by different materials to simulate atmospheric aging has a strong impact on its reactivity toward NO(2) and the resulting HONO production. Coating of pyrene has little effect on either reaction rate or HONO yield. Sulfuric acid coating does not alter the uptake coefficient, but significantly reduces the amount of HONO formed. Coating of glutaric acid significantly increases NO(2) uptake coefficient and HONO yield. The results of our study indicate that the reactivity and HONO generating capacity of internally mixed soot aerosol will depend on the chemical composition of the coating material and hence will vary considerably in different polluted environments.

Enhanced light absorption and scattering by carbon soot aerosol internally mixed with sulfuric acid.

Light absorption by carbon soot increases when the particles are internally mixed with nonabsorbing materials, leading to increased radiative forcing, but the magnitude of this enhancement is a subject of great uncertainty. We have performed laboratory experiments of the optical properties of fresh and internally mixed carbon soot aerosols with a known particle size, morphology, and the mixing state. Flame-generated soot aerosol is size-selected with a double-differential mobility analyzer (DMA) setup to eliminate multiply charged particle modes and then exposed to gaseous sulfuric acid (10(9)-10(10) molecule cm(-3)) and water vapor (5-80% relative humidity, RH). Light extinction and scattering by fresh and internally mixed soot aerosol are measured at 532 nm wavelength using a cavity ring-down spectrometer and an integrating nephelometer, respectively, and the absorption is derived as the difference between extinction and scattering. The optical properties of fresh soot are independent of RH, whereas soot internally mixed with sulfuric acid exhibits significant enhancement in light absorption and scattering, increasing with the mass fraction of sulfuric acid coating and relative humidity. For soot particles with an initial mobility diameter of 320 nm and a 40% H(2)SO(4) mass coating fraction, absorption and scattering are increased by 1.4- and 13-fold at 80% RH, respectively. Also, the single scattering albedo of soot aerosol increases from 0.1 to 0.5 after coating and humidification. Additional measurements with soot particles that are first coated with sulfuric acid and then heated to remove the coating show that both scattering and absorption are enhanced by irreversible restructuring of soot aggregates to more compact globules. Depending on the initial size and density of soot aggregates, restructuring acts to increase or decrease the absorption cross-section, but the combination of restructuring and encapsulation always results in an increased absorption for internally mixed soot. Mass absorption cross-sections (MAC) for fresh soot aggregates are size dependent, increasing from 6.7 +/- 0.7 m(2) g(-1) for 155 nm particles to 8.7 +/- 0.1 m(2) g(-1) for 320 nm particles. After exposure of soot to sulfuric acid, MAC is as high as 12.6 m(2) g(-1) for 320 nm particles at 80% RH. Our results imply that optical properties of soot are significantly altered within its atmospheric lifetime, leading to greater impact on visibility, local air quality, and radiative climate forcing.

Heterogeneous chemistry of alkylamines with sulfuric acid: implications for atmospheric formation of alkylaminium sulfates.

The heterogeneous interaction of alkylamines with sulfuric acid has been investigated to assess the role of amines in aerosol growth through the formation of alkylaminium sulfates. The kinetic experiments were conducted in a low-pressure fast flow reactor coupled to an ion drift-chemical ionization mass spectrometer (ID-CIMS). The measurements of heterogeneous uptake of methylamine, dimethylamine, and trimethylamine were performed in the acidity range of 59-82 wt % H(2)SO(4) and between 243 and 283 K. Irreversible reactive uptakes were observed for all three alkylamines, with comparable uptake coefficients (gamma) in the range of 2.0 x 10(-2) to 4.4 x 10(-2). The measured gamma value was slightly higher in more concentrated sulfuric acid and at lower temperatures. The results imply that the heterogeneous reactions of alkylamines contribute effectively to the growth of atmospheric acidic particles and, hence, secondary organic aerosol formation.

Effects of coating of dicarboxylic acids on the mass-mobility relationship of soot particles.

Atandem differential mobility analyzer (TDMA) and a differential mobility analyzer-aerosol particle mass analyzer (DMA-APM) have been employed to study morphology and hygroscopicity of soot aerosol internally mixed with dicarboxylic acids. The effective densities, fractal dimensions, and dynamic shape factors of soot particles before and after coating with succinic and glutaric acids are determined. Coating of soot with succinic acid results in a significant increase in the particle mobility diameter, mass, and effective density, but these properties recover to their initial values once succinic acid is removed by heating, suggesting that no restructuring of the soot core occurs. This conclusion is also supported from the observation of similar fractal dimensions and dynamic shape factors for fresh and coated/heated soot aggregates. Also, no change is observed when succinic acid-coated aggregates are cycled through elevated relative humidity (5% to 90% to 5% RH) below the succinic acid deliquescence point. When soot is coated with glutaric acid, the particle mass increases, but the mobility diameter shrinks by 10-40%. Cycling the soot aerosol coated with glutaric acid through elevated relative humidity leads to an additional mass increase, indicating that condensed water remains within the coating even at low RH. The fractal dimension of soot particles increases after coating and remains high when glutaric acid is removed by heating. The dynamic shape factor of glutaric acid-coated and heated soot is significantly lower than that of fresh soot, suggesting a significant restructuring of the soot agglomerates by glutaric acid. The results imply that internal mixing of soot aerosol during atmospheric aging leads to changes in hygroscopicity, morphology, and effective density, which likely modify their effects on direct and indirect climate forcing and deposition in the human respiratory system.

Effects of dicarboxylic acid coating on the optical properties of soot.

Soot is a major component of atmospheric aerosols responsible for absorption of visible solar radiation. Internal mixing of soot with transparent materials can enhance its ability to absorb and scatter light, resulting in a larger role of soot in climate forcing. We have investigated the absorption and scattering of visible light (532 nm) by soot aerosol internally mixed with succinic and glutaric acids using a combination of a cavity ring-down spectrometer and an integrating nephelometer. The measurements were performed for flame-generated soot aerosol with well-characterized morphology and mixing state in the particle size range from 155 to 320 nm. Thin coatings of dicarboxylic acids on soot aggregates (with a mass fraction of 0.1-0.4) enhance significantly light scattering (up to 3.8 fold) and slightly light absorption (less than 1.2 fold). Cycling the coated soot aerosol through high relative humidity (humidified to 90% RH and then dried to 5% RH) promotes further increase in light absorption and scattering for soot internally mixed with glutaric acid, but not for soot mixed with succinic acid. The larger effect of glutaric acid on light absorption and scattering is caused by the irreversible restructuring of soot aggregates induced by the coating material. Our results indicate that the enhancement in the optical properties of soot by transparent coatings is strongly related to the ability of the coating materials to change the morphology of soot aggregates.

Characterization of atmospheric aerosols from infrared measurements: simulations, testing, and applications.

An inversion method for the characterization of atmospheric condensed phases from infrared (IR) spectra is described. The method is tested with both synthetic IR spectra and the spectra of particles that flow in a cryogenic flow tube. The method is applied to the IR spectra recorded by the Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy instrument carried by the Space Shuttle during three missions in 1992, 1993, and 1994. The volume density and particle size distribution for sulfate aerosol are obtained as a function of altitude. The density and size distribution of ice particles in several cirrus clouds are also retrieved. The probable radius of the ice particles in the high-altitude (10-15-km) cirrus clouds is found to be approximately 6-7 microm.

Local order and dynamics in supercooled water: a study by IR spectroscopy and molecular dynamic simulations.

Micron-sized water droplets in a cryogenic flow tube were probed by IR spectroscopy. The analysis of the IR spectra suggests that there is a relative increase of about 30% in the fraction, f(L), of low density domains in water on cooling over the temperature range between 300 and 240 K. The results derived from the experiments agree qualitatively with those of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in terms of the increase in the f(L) values. The MD simulations show that the intensities of the mode at about 100 cm(-1) for the molecules in the low density domains are reduced in comparison to the average, while the intensities and frequencies of the librational mode at 600 cm(-1) are increased. Furthermore, the reorientations (dielectric relaxation times) in these domains are found to be somewhat slower, pointing to the fact that these low density "cages" live longer than the average local molecular environments in supercooled water.