Microphysical properties of carbonaceous aerosol particles generated by laser ablation of a graphite target

Abstract

In this work various microphysical properties including mass concentration, size distribution and morphology of aerosol particles generated by laser ablation of a high purity graphite sample were investigated in detail. Supplementary chemical analysis of the generated particles including microstructure investigation by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and Raman spectroscopy were also made. These measurements proved that the proposed method can be used to model the real atmospheric carbonaceous particulate under various climate relevant conditions regarding its specific properties investigated here. However, to introduce the presented methodology as a novel BC surrogate, further improvement and investigation including simplification in experimental setup, comprehensive analysis of thermochemical refractiveness and optical responses of the generated particles as well as comparative study with the presently available concurrent surrogates are required. The related results of these issues are planned to be demonstrated in other studies.