Effect of thermodenuding on the structure of nascent flame soot aggregates

The optical properties (light scattering and absorption) of soot particles depend on soot size and index of refraction, but also on the soot complex morphology and the internal mixing with other material at the single particle level. For example, freshly emitted (nascent) soot particles can interact with other materials in the atmosphere, materials that can condense on soot and coat it. This coating can affect the soot optical properties by refracting light, or by changing the soot aggregate structure. A common approach to studying the effect of coating on soot optical properties is to measure absorption and scattering values in ambient air and then measure them again after removing the coating using a thermodenuder. In this approach, it is assumed that: 1) Most of the coating material is removed; 2) charred organic coating does not add to the refractory carbon; 3) oxidation of soot is negligible; and 4) the pre-existing core soot structure is left unaltered despite potential oxidation of the core at elevated temperature. In this study, we investigate the validity of the last assumption, by studying the effect of thermodenuding on the structure of nascent soot. To this end, we analyze the morphological properties of laboratory generated nascent soot, before and after thermodenuding. Our investigation shows that there is only minor restructuring of nascent soot by thermodenuding.