Electrodynamic balance measurements of thermodynamic, kinetic, and optical aerosol properties inaccessible to bulk methods

Measurements of a single, levitated particle in an electrodynamic balance are an established tool for deriving thermodynamic and material data such as density, refractive index and activities of components of an aqueous solution under supersaturated conditions, where bulk measurements are not possible. The retrieval relies on combining mass-to-charge data and size data from light scattering. Here, we use a combination of low- and high-resolution Mie resonance spectroscopy to obtain radius data, enabling an accurate size determination not only when the particle is in equilibrium, but also when it is out of equilibrium due to kinetic limitation of mass transport. With the data measured under non-equilibrium conditions, it is possible to retrieve the water diffusivity. A challenge is that the radius retrieval by comparing measured light scattering with Mie theory requires the knowledge of refractive index as a function of concentration. Here, we show an iterative retrieval of refractive index and size for compounds for which data cannot be obtained in the bulk either due to lack of sufficient amounts of sample or limited solubility. We demonstrate the measurement strategy and the retrieval of water activity, density, refractive index and water diffusivity for aqueous shikimic acid. Water diffusivity in concentrated shikimic acid decreases by 6 orders of magnitude at 250 K compared to that at room temperature.