Laboratory Experiments

• The Prather Group uses the laboratory to answer a very broad range of questions. 

• There are two main experimental directions in our lab

  • Experiments related to building/improving instrumentation

    • i.e. the Aerosol Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (ATOFMS)

  • Experiments which try to answer chemistry related questions

• Each of these two main experimental directions contains a plethora of different research avenues

Instrumentation Related Modifiations

• Designing and Building New Mass Spectrometers

• Testing New Aerosol Inlet Designs

• Testing Different Laser Homogenization Techniques

• Different Types of Lasers

• Designing and Testing Software to Run our Mass Spectrometers

Chemistry Related Experiments

• Chemistry related lab experiments are becoming more and more prevalent and important to our lab

• We design many of our chemistry related lab experiments to help understand the complex chemistry aerosol particles undergo in the atmosphere

• We can obtain both mass spectra, size distributions, and gas phase measurements depending on the purpose of the experiment

  • Examples of experiments

    • Reacting dust particles with secondary inorganic species

    • Coating elemental carbon particles with organic carbon

    • Aerosol formation from bubble bursting processes in the ocean

• Our group has also measured pharmaceutical related aerosols (inhalers), petroleum based particles (different oil and fuel formulations), cigarette smoke, meat cooking, welding fumes, metallic nanoparticles (iron, gold and silver), etc…

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9500 Gilman Drive - 0314
La Jolla, CA
92093-0314
(858) 822-5745
aault@ucsd.edu

Page developed by Matt Spencer and Andy Ault

 Last Updated 7/9/2006